Tasha doesn't remember some of the activities of the night before, only that were a lot of Vartans, and singing and pretty powerful ale after the races. She woke up in her regular bed in her room at the Council building instead of at Vasterlion's cliff resort, so Rapatia probably brought her here. She's even still got her underwear on! But according to the clock she hasn't overslept much, so there should still be time enough to clean up and eat something before heading to the airfield to meet the Picnic Basket.
The young woman stretches as she sits up. In the Pit there isn't much in the way of dawn; the sky lightens, and lightens, but no break of Primus over the horizon until the arc of the sun reaches above the cliffside -- which can be well in to morning. Thus she doesn't need to squint against the light as she might otherwise have, the level of even light telling her she isn't late. She isn't even very hungover, just a mild headache she has long learned to live with. She's good to go.
Go.
Tasha turns her head as her hands fall, regarding her quarters as if seeing them for the first time. This place is the first real landside home she's ever had, something truly assigned to her and her alone. They've been her's for months now, as long as she's lived anywhere except The Rake itself. Some part of her wonders if she'll ever see this place again, but she pushes the thought out of her mind. She didnt' take three days off just to squander it on gloomy reflection.
In time she's dressed, combed, brushed and ready. She gathered everything she thinks she'll need, even retrieving her halitool from where she had stuffed it under her bed after becoming unwilling to use it after she murdered Blackwings with it. She looks at it, too, and reminds herself it's time to move on. Time to go. And so she leaves her apartment.
The hallway isn't empty. Eli and Remiel are there, loading up a cart with some of Eli's equipment. "Ah, good morning," Remiel says to Tasha. "Ready to get back in the saddle?"
"Ready," Tasha answers, giving the man a thumbs up before she steps forward to help with the packing. "How about you two, are you coming with us Remy?"
"It always helps to have a medical officer that can operate in any region of the ship or outside of it," Remiel notes. The last component is stacked, and the two Karnors start pushing it along. "It's also tradition to have a really big, hearty breakfast before heading off."
"It is?" Eli asks.
"It is now," Remiel claims. "I like the food better here than at Tartarus."
"Or worse, on the ship. Or the Horse until we got the fab working and real supplies." Rather than let the other two move the heavy stuff, she steps in to push the cart. "To the caffeteria, or we eating somewhere special?" The cart begins to roll, slow and steady.
"Cafeteria is fine," Remiel says. "I've gotten them to produce decent steak and eggs.. with ham and bacon and fried potatoes and pancakes. At least, I'm calling it ham and bacon."
"Actually, Jonas has turned out to be a very good cook, Tasha," Eli notes.
Tasha chuckles as she walks along. She's missed the banter between the two Elites. In the beginning it was just her, the Elites, and a few Lapi all together. The group began to fragment shortly after their return from Sheol. At the mention of Jonas, she perks her ears and arches her brows. "Oh, really? You know, I never got a chance to talk to him much. It feels like I don't know much about the people on my own ship, other than what was needed and the sense they can be mostly trusted."
"Turns out a lot of belters are gourmets," Eli explains. "They can only bring so much on their singleships, so they go for calorie-dense foods. He makes a great caviar souffle."
"Remind me to ask for one when we get back, then." Tasha isn't sure what caviar is, but she's never known the Elite to eat poorly. Everything they like she has liked and often their version is better than anything she ever had on Sinai before meeting them. Often, but not always -- some foods simply aren't avaialble away from her home world. Primus is unique, and so to the life on its varied worlds. The cart rolls in to the corner and soon it's veering towards the food court. "Any word for Belle, about teh repairs? Are we on schedual?"
"If we're behind schedule, we'll know when we get there," Remiel claims. "It's easier to deal with things on their end than to reschedule Harmonia for pickup." The smells of the cafeteria are already pretty deep. It's early enough that a lot is still being prepared. Most of the stations are setting up their buffets though.
Tasha claims a table near the exit, but out of the way so the cart isn't blocking the isles. She drops herself in to a chair and leans back, hands in her lap. "I can't believe it's almost time. I know I haven't been working on this project very long, but it feels like it's been forever. I guess in a way it has. Everyone before me, the Khattans, the uplifting, on and on."
"You shouldn't worry about what's gone into it," Eli says, as Remiel goes to get them started with some coffee. "At least not the past. You can't disappoint the dead, after all. It's just the people living right now you have to consider."
"That's not true. Nora is disappointed in things all the time." The young woman grins, then untangles her fingers and shrugs with her hands. "But I know what you mean. Anyway, I'm ready. As ready as I'm going to be. I'm grateful you're coming along, too. I know it's your job, but I'm still grateful." She glances off at Remiel, then shakes her head. "I should wait for him to get back before I start the sentimentality, shouldn't I?"
"Because he's the psychiatrist?" Eli asks. "Or because sentimentality goes better with coffee?" He has a big grin on his face as he says it.
Tasha's grin brightens. "Because I love you both and want you to hear it, that's why. Also I want some coffee, my hangover is feeling lonely." Ger hands go back to her lap, resting toegther, then she says, "So how do you think we're doing as a organizations? Excited about our work with Mr. V., really moving those semiconductors? I didn't think about the business side of what we were going to do."
"Oh my, I'd nearly forgotten about the other use for that giant space monster," Eli says. "I'm barely caught up on your capture of a live crab. Trying to manage the Horse has left me a bit exhausted, to be honest. I'm not the best negotiator."
Remiel returns shortly, with three big mugs brown wake-up juice. "So, do we want to make a toast?" he asks.
"I'm sorry we dumped that on you. I wouldn't have left the ship, except I had to be here to finish up. I never expected it'd take as long as it did, though. Even recalling you wasn't more than a 'all hands on deck' moment. But, at least it's over now and you're back home." Tasha leans back a little, using a knee to tilt her chair. "Was it really that bad? It was Kaa wasn't it?" She accepts a mug and rests it against her belly. "We can talk about it later, I guess. It'll be a long trip. A toast." The knee comes back and she sits up, leaning forward. "Well, how about to the JEF, now and then, and to explorers everywhere?"
Remiel raises his mug in turn. "And to meeting new friends," he adds.
"And not being clawed by cats," Eli adds with his mug.
"Here here," Tasha squawks in Vartan, the language closet to her heart. She clinks her mug to the others before settling back and having a sip. A quiet moment later the mug is back in her lap. "You know," she begins, glancing between the two men, " ... helping you three, and then the others, is one of the proudest moments in my life. I'm glad I met you and I'm glad I didn't listen to Layeth when he said I should let you rest. Life's in the struggle, and in what we make of things."
"Well, that's life," Remiel says. "And I'm hungry. Another important sign of life! I smell steak."
"Another reason I like you two: You both lead me to the best meals. Let me." Tasha puts her mug down, then rises. In short order she's got three trays sliding down the rails, all waiting atthe first stop of the food train. The prepping cooks get a familiar -- and familiarly hungry -- grinning face to watch them work. Familiar because she's eats here so oftem, familiar because most Karnor heads aren't framed by wings.
Breakfast is more than filling.. it has a sense of ritual to it. Tradition, as Remiel claimed. It symbolized leaving behind the comforts of home. Remiel was leaving Neesa behind after all, although he fully intended to be coming back. Eli seemed to be mostly in the moment, happy to indulge one of the few base instincts the Karnors still retained.
As for Tasha, she found herself simply glad to be here among two of her closest friends here in this place she had made her home. The long morning dark, the once-strange clothing, the ma'ams of her station, the bustle of a frontier city. It feels like home. The only land-bound home she has ever had. Tartarus was first, but it's a base, and she didn't stay long. The Pit is where she always returned, though it wasn't her original plan. Life simply decided that here is where she'd come back to. To here, to Gabriel, and soon also to her ships. Many homes, many friends, all close to heart.
The sun finally breaches the top of the cliffs, spilling light across the Pit. After breakfast, they go to the airfield, collect Melchior and head out to the Basket when it arrives. For the Titan crews this is just another coming and going of their allies, something that's become routine. A truck takes the Karnors and their gear, and Tasha follows along in her Titan.
The Titan walks, keeping pace with the truck as it rolls along. There's a certainly leisureliness to it, amplified to monolithic portion. And so, too, it's pilot. She savors this walk, having arranged her perceptual input to display an unobstructed view in her mind. She used to think a view like this was 'fake,' not withher own eyes, but understanding facets of biology, and learning she has been the Titan changed all that. The AI can feel her calm, unhidden, unfettered.
"Mel," she greets her machine. "It's a nice town, isn't it Mel? A good town."
"It is the only town that I know," the AI replies.
"There'll be more. If we survive, there wil be more." The machine's great head turns towards the city itself, little windows opening in her mind, picking out details, zooming in. "It's almost time. We won't be returning here until after we've entered the Hall of Souls. We're almost at the mountain top, Mel. It's been an interesting flight."
"This was the plan," Melchior notes. "It is what I was created for."
"It wasn't what I was created for, but here I am just the same." Tasha rubs her nose. Even the constant itchiness of her nose from the low humidity is something she's come to associate with home. Just as home has its comforts that make it special, so too does it have its annoyances that give it flaws, give it character. "But this wasn't the plan, was it? Me, here? Six thousand years later?"
"You are my pilot," Mel points out. "That is what matters. You are under no obligation to complete the Magi mission."
"But I'm going to. No, that's not the truth: I'm completing our mission. We don't work for the Khattans, we're not members of the original Fleet or secret societies. This is our mission now. We're going on our mission, because I want to, and you're another side of me." The Titan lifts it right hand, looking at it with its head, its sensors. Tasha flexes it; she can feel it like it's her own, and in many ways it is. "We go because we want to. Mayve I can't really explain why, or why I'd go anyway, but I guess I don't need to. We're going and that's that."
"And afterwards you will give me a new mission?" the Gryphon asks.
"Your mission is always to be with me. I was wrong to think about abandoning you for the Seraph; if you're not good enough for a task, then that's something we can overcome together. We can build on what we are." The hand lowers, Tasha brings the Titan to a halt as the truck slows, manuvering to bring its rear to the platform. They'll board soon. "But as for what we're going to do, well, that depends a lot on what happens up there. But even if nothing happens, we have a ship that's waiting for us and a whole universe to stick our nose in to. I'm sure we'll stay busy."
"I do not know if I have more hidden functions," Mel notes. "I do not see how coming situations could have been prepared for in advance, however, so calculate the probability of such functions existing or coming into play to be very low."
"Old Apollyon said Adam may not be along, and we don't even know if Adam will be friendly. If one or more of the Progenitors become hostile, we're probably looking at facing a Titan-like being of immense age, knowledge, and skill with better integration. We'll have to approach it like fighting a superior Titan. For the rets, who knows? The Progenitors come from beyond this universe, who can say what they've brought or what they're capable of. Even their base might be bizarre and challenging in ways we couldn't even predict. We'll just bring as much as we can with us and hope it's enough. But Mel, this is one more thing." As the truck is unloaded, the Titan slowly approaches again, stopping a good thirty feet out and awaiting it's turn. "Yama did something to me. I spoke to Katha-hem, to the dark being behind all the kaiju and the one we thought engineered the Seraph's corruption -- it wasn't Katha. Or so it said. It was Yama, through me. I think Yama has been trying to make something happen. He sai
d he didn't believe in fate, but maybe he's forcing an event we don't understand. The Seraph is when the Marker activated, I doubt it's a coincidence. It also means I've been compromised from at least two sources."
"Is the Marker activation important?" Melchior asks. "Perhaps it was necessary. Balthasar was never meant to be the one to complete the mission, most likely."
"I wish I knew. I just feel like he's up to something, that he was trying to make something happen by forcing the corruption. Maybe he knew the Marker would react to signs of a dark being that could threaten the Hall and so he fabricated the event. Maybe Ahriman asked him to. But, I guess we won't know what all these ancient beings, cults and gods might want from us until the cards are on the table. Soon, Mel." And so Tasha pats the armrest as her machine walks towards the basket. "We'll know, soon. For better or for worse."
"It is possible that the Progenitors never expected or wanted their creations to find them," Melchior speculates. "In which case, it would make sense to ensure certain obstacles occurred to make it more difficult."
"However, the Marker activated, and allowed me to come to your aid," the machine notes. "I would take that as a positive sign."
"A 'hands off' approach, huh? That seems reasonable. Well, except for Ahriman and Mafdet, who obviously interfered. Yama said he met Ahriman in person and I think I saw some of his memories when we tried to tap in to his Marker with magic. I saw him on their world, I think I saw his ship. The rest is hazy, but he was definitely involved directly at one point. I bed Mafdet was too." The machine takes its place, hands reaching out to rest on the rails of the basket not unlike a boxer resting agaisnt the ropes in his or her corner. "And you're right. If they wanted me gone, they could have just let things happen. Or had you stab me. I wasn't in good shape, just not showing up would have ended me. So I owe them that, even if blowing myself up turned out to be kind of pointless."
"Has your friend uncovered anything about the Markers in Eve's book?" the AI asks. It's now clear to enter the Basket, as the truck retreats.
The Titan completes its entry, resuming the 'hands on rails' rest position before giving a thumbs up at the height of a tall apartment complex. "She's working on it. Katha-hem really messed with her head; It'd have messed with my head more, too, if I ahdn't been prepared. But Yue's on it, and Yue's competent. As competent in her own way as Hake-bear is dedicated to her research. They'll come through." The machines head turn, inside the pilot nods. "Time to lift off then. One last look before we're gone."
The airfield is dusty, thanks to the retreating ground car. At the far end is the Titan hangar, where one of the Lawbringers is undergoing calibration testing. And beyond that the transplanted and transformed city of Elamoore.
"Well, it's dirty, ugly, and ulitarian, but it's still home. Besides, how many cities are in a pit excavated by alien technology on a world filled with monsters, magic, and shiny crystals?" The Titan lifts its right hand, saluting the city as the basket lifts off. "Damn, you know, I'll miss it if we don't come back."
"How was the Pit created?" the AI asks, as the big landing hatch closes.
Tasha cocks her head to the side, twisting her muzzle as she thinks on what she knows about the Pit. "From what I heard it was the Boomer incident, a FTL transfer of two points in space, swapping them. The device was an Exile device, from another world in this or another universe. Maybe a FTL drive, or a weapon, or just something that didn't work well with this reality. The event destroyed most of Elamoore proper back on Sinai and replaced it with a mesa. Elamoore City came here, and, well, that didn't go very well once the canal flooded in here. It was big news on both worlds. I think it was also the first time someone from Sinai came to Abaddon."
"You should warn those investigating the toporgic material," Melchior notes. "There may be a connection, if the substance can be weaponized."
"That's the risk, isn't it? Everything we give -- however amazing or boring -- can be used for whatever they want after it's out of our hands. But I'm sure Gabriel thought of that, and Eli. I'm just a barbarian pilot, they don't need me telling them their jobs," Tasha replies, chuckling after the fact. Her head shakes. "But that's for later. We have enough to worry about with what's on our plate."
Eli and Remiel work in the vast cargo area, but mostly they're just doing some exercises. The sleepover area is still just some canvas walls and cots.
"I look forward to fulfilling my purpose," the AI says. "No matter what happens, we will be together for it."
Tasha usually sleeps in the cockpit when available. Now taht the view of the Pit is steadily dwindling, even with the Titan's sensors, she decides to kick back a little longer and review. The outside display partially vanishes in a sea of notes, data trees, paused video recordings and status readouts. "That's right," she agrees, hands going behind her head as the control seat reclines. "We'll be together. Just as it should be."
Bellerophon is aswarm with activity. Fred's remote suit is walking along the wings in inspection, which must mean the computer and PersoCom systems are back up and running. Cranes crawl along the walls of the hangar, moving equipment around, and the upper Titan hangar is open on the ship's back, where the shuttle is being lifted out by another heavy crane to make room for Melchior. The Titan is standing by, having just arrived at the opposite hangar.
For the time being Tasha has made the walk between hangars, come to be close to Bellerophon and the people aboard, though she doesn't board yet. Instead she keeps herself out of the way, perched on a stack of crates offloaded shortly after the spaceship's first landing here. She knows they're full of odds and ends that havn't been assigned a use, making them the perfect place for an avian to sit and watch without risk of being carried off. When she catches sight of Fred's armor, she lifts her hand and waves vigorously with one hand while holding up her datapad in the other. A hello, and an invitation to talk.
The communication alert flashes on the datapad a moment later, with Fred's grinning face on the notice.
Tasha kicks back, dropping herself on to the crate's top and looking straight up to her datapad as she flicks the communications to life. "Hi, Fred!"
"How've you been, sport?" Fred asks. "Heard you got a three-day furlough, too! Glad to be back with the pack?"
"You bet I am, though the lack of Katherine Vesuivius around here it a distinct minus," the Cadet replies, winking, smiling, and settling in to as much comfort as a reinforced cargo crate can offer. "But I've missed being around. It feels like I'm never around enough. It's good to see you. Uh, I wanted to say some things, but I know you're busy and I know you hate when I get all sentimental, so, um, want the executive version ..?"
"Go right ahead, I can listen and work," Fred claims. "I'm just that great!"
"You are. Way greater than I am unless I'm hooked to a computer -- and then I end up melting my brain. I'd a hodge-podge juryrig, don't you know?" Tasha laughs, then scooches back a pit and stuffs her duffle under her head, giving her a pillow and allowing her to speka in a pose more conductive to looking serious about matters. "Fred," she starts, cabting her ears back, "I was wrong, about how I treated you, I mean. You didn't know and you were just trying to help, besides I know you were lonely. I overreacted because I was afraid to let Gabriel down. But it was all my fault. If I hadn't scared you away, maybe my PersoCom would have been happier, you'd have been happier, and we'd have been close again. I regret -- I aplogize for, deeply and, um, profusely -- that I caused all of that to happen. If I could do it all again, I would. I'm sorry. I wanted to say it -- say it right this time. I want things to be like they were."
"Don't be too hard on yourself over it," Fred replies. "You're young! But you know now that I.. we, the ghost crew.. aren't our PersoComs. But that doesn't mean we aren't responsible for what they do, in some way. But you've got me pegged, after all.. I just want to be liked and make people happy. I haven't been much of a help to your friend Hakeber though, I think. She's like you.. and I think she needs someone like Gabe to make her feel like she's protected and everything will be fine."
"I want you to know this has been eating me for months. Ever since it happened; I've been thinking about it agains and again, in the cockpit, in my quarters, just everywhere. And every time it made me sick. I don't know what took me so long, amybe I was mad, or afraid, or too busy with other things -- and other people and those problems. But I've said it, and I'm glad. This is how it should havee been. Sorry for being slow. Like usual." The young woman raps the knuckles of ehr free hand on her head, tilting in to it and grinning. "And I want you to be liked, by everyone. That includes me. No, I want to be high on the list of people who like Fred Kholer." And then she exhales, having finally said it as she meant to say it, as she wanted to, but couldn't manage for so long. Recent events have impressed upon her the value of time; the uncertainty of the future. It was now or perhaps never.
Tasha closes her eyes and leans her head back. The burden is gone; it feels good. But there's still more. Hakeber. "I think Hake's like me for the reason I'm like me. Once you see -- really see -- the immensity of things, you want something that feels as big to protect you. Even if it's not, you want that feeling. You want to feel safe in the new world you just got sucked in to, and you know, you know, you can't go back to how things were. Hake-bear's going to be worse off now; maybe she won't be able to go home, return to her old life. And like me, she'll reach for something big -- maybe somethings like I do. Reach for the top, because then you feel like maybe -- just maybe -- it'll be big enough. And then, you will be too."
"I'm just worried," Fred says. "She was always so.. cuddly.. and then she got into that book, and we were all suddenly busy with the PC crisis.. I just wonder if I'd been there with her she wouldn't have had that breakdown. She shouldn't have been left alone, but.. I figured she was alright, and probably focused more on the recruits. I thought Hakeber wasn't in any danger. She's better now though, but not her old self."
"Nobody saw it coming. Nobody, Fred. I was in that city with Yue staring at those books, the only strange thing about them was that sensors refused to see them. That's it. No one -- not the dark things, not Old Yama, not the PersoCom of Apollyon or Ser Heraphel said anything about them being dangerous. Not even Hakeber herself, and she's the expert! There was nothing we could habe done, Fred. I know I oushed her to read them, but she was just tired when I saw her then, and we were facing what might have been a pangalactic crisis on our doorstep." Tasha opens her eyes, meeting Fred's own and perking her ears. "Of course, I could have been gentler. I just learned Abaddon was back, and I lost it. You know what? We were all a wreck. Hake just took it harder than most, but maybe she'll be strong now, too. Maybe. I hope. I'll come see her after Mel's aboard."
"Yeah.. I hear that probe I cobbled together isn't going to be needed.. yet," Fred says. "There's a truce or something?"
"I got to talk to Hake-bear's monster," the Cadet admits, looking rather queasy as the memory returns. "Katha-hem. The attack on Bellerophon? It was scratching an itch. It wasn't even a concious retaliation, it was just defending itself with automated weapons. We might as well have been attacked by a autoturret." The hybrid lifts her free hand, poking her taloned pointer against her skull. "It's only awake in dreams. It knew me, can you believe that? Saw me in the weird way it sees time -- I think it must see timelines or realities, all at once. Even exist across them. Said I was the one who would kill it, in two-out-of-three futures. Said it sent the kaiju, said it was playign the bad guy to get us to work together. It's a slave, Fred. It envied us, so it tired to help us. And then I just couldn't kill it. I made peace, at the cost of letting the attacks continue."
"Wow.. that's pretty weird," Fred admits. "But I'm a ghost and you're an impossible hybrid and we're taking magic game tokens to Heaven, so maybe it's not that weird."
"Nah," goes Tasha with a huge grin, "it's pretty weird alright. It's all weird. It's a wonder we're not all as bad as Hakeber. Or, no ... I was for a while wans't I? Remember when I thought I was Nora? That was crazy. And then there was that one time we ran in to the Bersekers, and we're friends with a Titanian ship that looks like a sailboat and has a silly name. No, Fred, it's all weird." Craning her neck up, the hybrid sees the shuttle is now out of the way and pushes off. "Looks like I'm clear -- I'm going to run back to Mel. We can talk more from the cockpit, or after I board, okay? And Fred," she leans in to the camera, " ... I'm glad we're okay. I'd go hug you but Mel might get jealous."
"You can hug me after you're aboard," Fred promises. Two of the hangar cranes move into position and drop their hooks near Melchior, so the Titan can grab onto them once Tasha is in control again.
It's a short trip back in to the cockpit. Tasha has boarded her Titan so many times by now getting inside has become rote to the point of showoff. Land on the shoulder, sprint off the rear of the spine, glide a few feet and slide down the rest in to the tunnel. Or, as Tasha has come to think of it, the 'slide and ride.'
After powering back up and entering the appropriate depth, the Titan reaches its hand up and makes a tugging gesture near the chain on its right, indicating it should be lifted now.
The cranes go to work, hauling the Titan into the air before swinging it over the back of the ancient spaceship. They lower Melchior slowly, until its feet touch down inside the Titan bay.
It's strange to be in the Bellerophon and not in the docking crade. The Titan support system was folded away to make room fro the shuttle. To Tasha it feels vaguely like making her bed as the large arm of the Titan reaches out and, along with automated systems, returns the cradle to place. The robot is far too large to be housed standing and so requires the cradle. Soon the Titan is secure and Tasha is exiting.
After a brief glide the Cadet and her dufflebag are back on board. "Whew," goes the young woman, running a hand back through her hair. "Finally back!"
It's Eli that she encounters first, as he enters the bay. "Ah, do you mind if we keep the Markers in here?" he asks. "It's the biggest space where we can keep them all separated."
"Go ahead. It might help Hake-bear if reminders are kept where she won't be, too," Tasha replies as she makes an aimless circle of a walk, free hand swinging at her side, taking it all in again. "Nice to see all the wires and parts back where they were. The last time I came aboard, things were a bit spooky, you know? Som where's my man?"
"He's on the bridge with Nora, going over flight plans," Eli notes. "I'm still.. integrating.. I'm not sure which one of me saw him there."
"I'm glad I don't have to integrate with Nora, what a disaster that would be. But I feel bad for you, Eli. I'm sorry you have to deal with it." Tasha stops her meandering and walks to Eli, patting him on the shoulder as she heads past. "Well, I'm going to check on Hake-bear, speaking of friends with problems. Let me know if you need me, okay?"
"Sure thing, Big Red," Eli says.. "Oh, that's your nickname on Horse.."
Tasha stumbles. "Big Red?" She chokes. Nora's callsign was Little Red. Her callsign on Bellerophon was a very respectable 'Black Rook,' making her immediately regret not assigning callsigns when last she was on her ship. "Gah," she mutters as she starts walking. "Big Red. Fine, fine, you win universe! Big Red and ... Crazy Kaa!" And then she's gone, though the muttering persists until the hatch closes.
The door to Fred's cabin (where Hakeber is holed up) is slightly open, and there's some sort of odd music playing inside, but the lights are dim.
Tasha pokes her nose inside, sniffing. "Knock knock," she greets in a quieter-than-normal tone. "Can I come in?"
"Watch your step," Yue's voice replies. "There are papers all over the floor.."
"That's the Hake-bear way," Tasha insists. The door slides open and the Cadet enters, closing the door behind her. She lets her eyes adjust, looking around. Vartans are very much diurnal birds. "So, um, how's things?"
"She's sleeping," Yue says. The odd music does sound soothing. "And we both need showers." The human is sitting in the center of the floor, wearing shorts and a tube-top. Pages are arrayed all around her.. some stacked, others not. "You spoke to Katha-hem, right? What did it say about.. this?" she asks, sweeping an arm to indicate the translated pages.
Fearing the imminent hoof-crunching of valueable papers Tasha decides to sit herself down right where she stands, creating a little island among the literary sea. She puts her duffle in her lap and lays her hands on it. "You heard about that? The com, right? Fred and I? Anyway, you're right, I did. But it didn't mention these," she waggles the smallest of her talons at the papers infront of her, " ... since we mainly stuck to avoiding a war. Terms, what it meant. But it did say some things. It knew me, one. Two, it sees timelines and predicts in two of posible futures I kill it and ither the Sifra or the dark beings win. In the third it lives, and someone else takes over the Sifra's power. It said I'm marked and known to it -- to them. That means the Ogdoad. I know, it scares me too."
"What about Hakeber?" Yue asks. "Did it explain what it did to her?"
"Nothing, except ... " Tasha squints. Was there anything? The war and the Progenitors seemed most important; hundreds of thousands of lives and galaxy-spanning disasters. The future. It stings that she didn't consider Hakeber much at all and she can only partially console herself by thinking that she didn't want to bring Hakeber in to further notice by Katha-hem. It doesn't help much. "See, I, um ... I didn't really ask about Hake. But I can piece some things together. It's not usually awake; the attack here was automated defense, scratching an itch. It's only reachable in dreams, and then only with certain people. The two people it mentioned were Harmonia and I -- but it also said why. It's their blood, beings that carry the blood of the dark beings, it can reach them. Anything that's connected to a stator system that use their blood. Beings like me who carry it. Which means, Hake must have been reached by one of two of those ways, right?"
"Or a third way," Yue says, gesturing to the original book they recovered from the Kampfengruppe. "That weird writing. Did it mention a Sadu-hem? Because Hake babbles in her sleep sometimes, and among the gibberish that name comes up."
"Yes," Tasha confirms with a definitive nod. "Sadu-hem, It asked me to rescue Sadu-hem, who is the source of the blood used to make the stator system. It's in Daltuna Station."
"Really now," Yue says, tapping her forehead with a finger. "The legendary Episiarch, I bet. I'm pretty sure Hakeber has a memory implant of some kind. Something to do with Sadu-hem.. either a message or maybe a spell. I couldn't record the words."
Tasha frowns, but having no thought on how the memory plant could have arrived she can only ask further questions. "Yes, probably the Episiarch. Lucky for all of us I already have a contact on Daltoona we might be able to use when the time comes. Of course if we do that then there goes the source of stators across Glactic space. But maybe that's for the best, because they might be traps. I don't know, but maybe." Her head shakes; focus on Hakeber. "But why would the books, or more likely Katha-hem, assign the mission to Hakeber? Unless, do you think it just reached out to anyone who could maybe do something?"
"Maybe it wanted you, but you weren't here, so.." Yue says, and shrugs. "I'm psychic, the captain is ancient.. Hakeber is the only normal person aside from those trainees. So the only thing I can think of is that reading the book put her into some sort of 'receive' mode that Katha-hem could send to. Other than that.. who knows. I still haven't found anything in the book that explicitly talks about the Markers yet either. Did you find out anything in your own tests?"
Tasha grins at that -- it's nice to have a real answer about the Markers. "Yes, I bet you're susprised! A real answer: We tried magic, spirit magic in particular. It reacted. We saw things: I think they were Ahrimans memories, or else a record. Maybe PersoCom-like system? Whatever they were, it showed him with the early Naga, it showed what might be his ship, other places and ... Well, what's one more thing to be worried about? I think he or it was aware of me. The others didn't see the eyes. I did. It saw me, not that that surprises me much. I figured one or more of them would be on to me sooner or later."
Yue thinks on this for a moment. "Dog Tags," she says. "According to the Teutons, they found Eve's corpse. The Markers could be dog-tags to identify the dead. Which suggests Ahriman - and any other Progenitor with a Marker associated with them - is also dead."
Tasha's smile disappears. "That'd be, well, sad. Part of the reason I did all of this was to meet them. But I've also heard they're never truly dead -- that they can't die. If their shell and their energy are reunited, they will live again. But maybe there's no one left to unite them? Maybe if they're 'killed,' they can't help themselves?"
"Eve was definitely trying to end herself," Yue says, tapping a stack of pages. "Maybe the Markers are where they put their vril once giving up their bodies? She tried to put it into humans.. well, a different version of humans, anyway. That's the part that seems to play into the Teuton's beliefs of their own origins."
"She did talk about it. A, um, a lot. 'Universe's longest suicide note.'" Tasha reaches up and scratches her nose. Gods commiting suicide, dark beings ask for help, madness and conspiracy everywhere -- her vacation is definitely over. "I wish we knew more about that vril-energy. You might be right about it, that it's both a record and a way of returning it to Adam, or at least leaving it for the others. The Titanians told me that some of the other Progenitors were destroyed by their civilizations. It wasn't impossible, we know it can be done. It's so ... morbid though. And their energy. It's them, it can be divided to make new beings, or returned to the original. It can power a suit; it can inhabit humans. It sounds like a soul. But maybe that's why it's the Hall of Souls. It's wheer Adam is, the source of their vril -- theri soul-energies."
"Which means bringing those things there might release that energy," Yue says. "You need to be prepared for that.. somehow. No idea what the energy is though, if it's physical or metaphysical. Either way, being caught in an explosion of the stuff would be bad.."
At this, Tasha rolls her eyes and spreads her hands. "Of course Yue, I'll bring my metaphysical explosion proof armor -- for the metaphysical energy we don't understand." The human woman gets a wry grin, the cadet's hands falling halfway where she wiggles her fingers. "Which sounds like magic. Spirit magic, I think?" Her shoulders roll. "That's what the Marker reacted to, anyway, but I'd really preferto know more about what I'm dealing with first."
"Well, I don't know a lot about magic yet," Yue says. "I know the rest of the crew don't count as magic spirits though. But this vril stuff might be similar if it reacted. Eve doesn't really describe it at all, only that her 'first' attempt at humans couldn't handle it and she gave up on trying to get the next version to use it."
"If it's similiar to Sifran magic than maybe it uses the 'priviledged channel' manipulation. The Sifran -- or Xilfrim -- are the oldest of the Old Ones. They were created by the Outsiders, the very first life, who were created by the Ogdoad and their servants. The gods of the Progenitors and the Dark beings are at war. So, if we trace it all back, it may all ahve a similiar technological origin. Or not." Another shrug from the hybrid. "It's interetsing that manipulation of priviledged channels migth effect it though. That means it's partially or entirely of our reality or of something that fits with our reality. Maybe that or tracing its technological origins would be of help."
"Well, if the Markers were created by the Archons, then they should have some element of our reality to them," Yue agrees. "But.. if these things are the actual Archons, or their remains, that wouldn't be necessary. We've never been able to detect anything from them beyond what we could see. And I've checked them for psionic effects, but there's nothing going on that I could detect."
"Then maybe the Sifra use something more than just reality manipulation at fundamental levels? They've captured and experimented on the Ogdru-hem, they may have reached a technologicla level where they can imitate or replicate the powers of higher beings. They'd have probably been VERY interested in doing so since they would ahve been aware of the Ogdoad and their servants -- they rebelled against the Ogdoad after all," Tasha suggests. She glances down now, picking up a random sheet of paper and frowning at it. "Maybe there's more to all this than we can comprehend. Maybe that's why my Titan exists; even the most highly trained modern mortal can't understand it."
"I'd almost suggest asking an Aeonian.. but I found out they forget stuff over time," Yue notes and throws her hands up. "What's the point of being immortal if you can only remember as much as a mortal? Anyway.. we still don't know anything about the Markers that you haven't figured out on your own. At least so far there hasn't been a mention of them in the translation.. or of any artifacts, really. I'm not even sure the Teutons' claim that Eve's corpse exists is true or not."
"From what I heard from other sources, their 'corpses' would have two parts: A shell and an energy. We can be assume the energy is this vril-energy and the shell is something like a Titan. A humanoid construction made out of a shape-changing stone-like material. It might be the same stone the Markers are made from, so the Markers would be shell or shell and energy. Maybe like an escape pod?" Tasha stares at the strange letters, having never been able to make any sense of them, nor how they could have effected Hakeber so deeply. Despite all her connection with the Markers, she remains an outsider to many of their mysteries. "So maybe they have the shell, but it's immobile without Eve's vril. I've heard otehr Progenitors were destroyed by their creations, so they can be destroyed somehow."
"That depends on your definition of destroyed," Yue suggests. "It could just mean they left and the people thought or claimed they destroyed them. There still isn't anything in the translation about that - they're 'created' by budding, and 'die' by being reintegrated. Although.." The human gets a thoughtful look, then says, "Eve's story about creating humans with vril in them would require her to gives some of herself to the process, wouldn't it? It's not clear if this weakens them or anything. There's no explanation for vril, where it comes from, and if it gets used up over time."
"Maybe she commited suicide by giving until she ran out of energy? It can't be infinite can it? You, um, couldn't just keep making more vril until the universe is full of vril. That's violate physics, wouldn't it? Conservation of-- Well, I guess that doesn't matter sicne we know there are a lot of tricks to evade that. I think it must be limited, otherwise Adam wouldn't need it back and wouldn't be diminished. Maybe Eve died the same way Adam was weakened: Loss of vril by budding." The paper is put down and Tasha scratches her nose, subconciously licking the closest part of her lip against the dryness. "But it migth be otherwise eternal. There's a set amount of it, it can be moved around, but that's all there is. And the energy seems to be able to do mroe than animate things if Adam single-handedly defeated the Sifra's entire empire and was prepared to deal with what Marduk's children found."
"We can't know for sure until you find Adam though," the human notes, idly organizing some of the loose pages. "We're pretty sure the Progenitors were created from him.. but not that he was the only one in the war. There could have been others that didn't survive, or moved on or whatever.. it's just that Adam tried to 'fix' the mess."
"More Adams." Tasha goes from rubbing her nose to her head. "'Gods all the way up,' isn't that what you said? All the way." Her head shakes, muzzle wrinkling. "But you're right about not knowing until I go. We can probably speculate and plan and try to prepare until the end of time and never figure things out. I'll just go, and hope for the best. Don't cry too much if I don't come back, though." And then she sticks her tongue out.
"You'll be taking the Markers with you too," Yue points out. "If they saved you before, they shouldn't turn on you now.. probably. It's hard to tell what is a test, an accident or a conspiracy with all of this." She gestures to the paper-strewn floor with a sweep of her arm. "But those things must be keys at the very least. But finding the lock could be another test."
"If there's any truth about any of this it's that: Who knows what's a test, an accident or a conspiracy. I've been losing sleep thinking about which is which since all this started. At least one way or another it'll be over soon." Tasha's hands fall and she leans back, sniffing the air a moment before noting, "You said you haven't had a shower, right? Well, I can tell. Why don't you use the Fred's -- or I can try and get you in to Gabriel's real-water shower -- and I'll look after Hake until you get back?"
"The captain has water?" Yue asks as she stands and stretches. "If he isn't going to mind, then I'll take up that offer. I'll leave the scholar for you to clean up."
Tasha rises as well. She fishes out her datapad and waits for it to connect to the ship's network, then locates Liza's somewhat confused face in the list of personnel connections and establishes the connection. "Hi Liza, this is Tasha. I'm back -- but you knew that didn't you? Can you come to Fred's quarters and escort Doctor Sen to Gabriel's quarters? She wants to use the water shower. Stay with her and help her as she needs until she returns. I'll handle the permissions -- acces and otherwise."
It takes a moment, then Tasha hears, "Is this on? Can you hear me?" in Liza's soft voice. "I will bring the human soap."
Tasha has to laugh. "I can hear you, Liza. Good job, by the way! Yes, get the human soap -- she needs it very badly. She'll be waiting inside Fred's quarters. Make sure she's escorted so that the cadets don't see her, please. We've given them enough mysteries for now." The cadet steps aside, gesturing towards the exit. "Liza will take care of you, uh, Yue. And I will take care of Hake-bear. Right after I ask Gabriel for permission." Her head drops again, more data pad work and then: "Hi Captain, I'm back! But you knew that because it's your ship! Can Yue use your shower?"
"Of course I can use my shower.. why, did you try it and it's broken?" Gabriel replies.
"VERY funny. I wonder if Humans knew you were going to make jokes about them when they're worn out and smelly." Tasha steps aside again and Gabriel can see Yue behind her. "I'll have Liza escort her. And watch her. She's snekay and Liza is dangerous when disappointed."
"You aren't getting in with her then?" Gabriel asks, and Tasha can hear him winking. "Where are you going to be, since I'm banned from my cabin for the duration?"
"I'll be with Hake in Fred's quarters. In the shower. Together. Being vibrated." 'Vibrated' being a particular new joke -- and innuendo -- taught to her by one Katherine Vesuvius and the wonderful world of modern Abaddonian technology. And then it's Tasha's turn to wink. "Come see me, won't you?"
"I'll be there, don't worry!" Gabriel says, and then the door opens. A brown Lapi woman is waiting there, somehow still looking prim in a basic jumpsuit. "I have your soap, Doctor," Liza says.
"You are so adorable," Yue notes as she heads out. "And the only one here shorter than me.." Anything else is cut off by the door closing.
Tasha steps over and drops herself on the bed next to the sleeping Hakeber, reaching down to pet her head, running her hand over her hair. "Hi, Hake," she whispers. "It's me. I'm sorry. But, lets get you cleaned up. You'll feel more alive when you don't look half dead." And then the scholar gets scooped up, blankets and all; it always amazed Tasha how small and light the Karnor girl is, she always made Tasha feel a bit giant and lumbering. Quite a feet, given Tasha is a petite Vartan and average by Abaddonian Karnor standards. "Off. To. The. Shower~" She sing songs as she rises.
"Mmmf," Hakeber sleep mumbles. "N'now mum I gotta hangover.." This is followed by a big yawn and blinking eyes. "Uh.. Tasha? Are you dead too?"
"Oh, probably. It runs in the family. Can't let that stop you though!" Hakeber gets a big, noisy kiss on the forehead as Tasha takes them both to the shower entrance. Opening it requires awkward use of her knee and nose to push buttons and open doors, but soon they're inside. "I'm going to strip, you don't have to if you don't want to, but solid objects might vibrate a lot." And that is not a joke. She learned that the hard, half-awake and jumping like a scared cat way a few months back.
Hakeber leans against the wall of the stall, still looking groggy. But she's not wearing anything under the blanket apparently. Maybe she does do all of her best work naked (and in an altered state of mind). "You should be sure. Didn't you get eaten by the.. I think it was a giant mushroom. It sang.. badly. And there was little gnome. I think it might even be real."
"That does sound like something that would happen to me. There are a lot of people who would make a joke about me and a giant mushroom, too." Soon Tasha's out of her travel clothes, her faux-uniform that may some day become the JEF's real informal uniform for non-technical and shipboard personnel. Her undersuit goes too, then she's stretching in the buff, glad for some freedom after half a day of traveling. She steps in the shower and begins pondering over the controls. "Speaking of 'giant mushrooms,' Gabriel is coming too."
The scholar seems confused. "What's he got to do with the giant mushroom?" she asks. "How'd he die?"
"Die? Unless you mean figuratively and it involved the last time I tried cooking for him, I don't know what you mean Hake-bear. Why so death-obsessed all of a sudden? Were you hanging out with my sister? Because sometimes when she lectures I feel like jumping in to the engines." Tasha finds the right settings and punches 'go.' It feels like her skin is rumbling, but that's how she knows it's working. She's fairly sure it will penetrate -- and clean -- a blanket, but peers down at Hakeber anyway to check.
At the start of the fresher, Hakeber wakes up a big more, and tosses out the blanket. "Ugh.. wait.. are we dead?" she asks. "Nora.. yeah, most of the crew are dead, I think.. I thought we were too. The crew is supposed to be dead to.. work the ship. Oh.. no, that's not it.." She rubs at her eyes with the heels of her hands. "Ah, right.. we're going to Heaven, and only the dead can guide us."
"That sounds supiciously like prophecy or that book," Tasha chides, though only with mock-severity. She knows full well Hakeber having the book is largely her fault, even if she couldn't have forseen the awful result. "I'm not sure I want you thinking about that, Hake-bear. Leave Heaven and confusing mysteries for me for a while, hokay? Wouldn't you rather just put this all behind you and rest for a while on the base?" The hybrid knows the answer even before she asks teh question, but she has to offer. She has to, if just to confirm things. When her own revelation happened she had been half-mad for months and there was no going home. She suspects the same is true for Hakeber, but she can at least offer a way home if it's not too late.
"But.. I'm not done yet.. am I?" Hakeber asks. Then she smells her own breath. "Huh.. no steak-and-beer breath, so I must not be done yet. It's still important, right? And.. uh.. the other thing too.." She looks uncertain, and starts snapping her fingers. "It's right on the tip of my brain.. but the gnome.. she was talking to me and.. I mean I haven't forgotten it, it's just.. just out of reach."
"The gnome, you mean Doctor Sen?" Tasha tries hard not to cackle at Yue being 'the gnome,' and largely succeeds. No time for jokes, at least not for her. Jokes are for Hakeber, to guide her through the madness and pain. "Don't worry about it, Hake-bear. If it's important you'll remember it when you need to." An empty platitude, but the cadet knows she has nothing as powerful as the truth. Everyone tried to comfort her, too, back when it washer turn and in the end she had to work it out in her own time, in her own mind, with what support she was given. The support did help, which is why she's trying so hard now and why she feels guilty for failing at it before. "And you're done if you want to be, Hake. It's your choice. I can handle everything."
"No you can't," Hakeber claims. "You don't know where to go yet! I know it's in there, somewhere.. but the gnome won't let me keep going. And when I start again, she gives me a different page, so I can't follow the trail of thought. It's annoying."
Yue's definitely the gnome, Tasha decides. Again, a struggle not to bark a laugh despite it all. She can just see Yue's reaction. "Hake-bear, that book is doing somethingto you and we can't help you if it gets a hold of you again. We don't even know why it's effecting you, something about the language? Or was ... Was it something else?" She frowns deeper; definitely not time for laughter. "Hake, that book is dangerous. We don't know what will happen if you keep going. You were falling apart the first time."
"That's back when I was alive though," Hakeber claims, grabbing onto Tasha's shoulders. "See, that's what I've figured out! Only the dead can read it safely! But now that I'm dead, I can do the rest just fine, I know it!"
Tasha wondersif she ever thought she was dead, back when she was half-mad. She thinks so, but it's been a while. Nothing crops up in memory to help her deal with someone else going through it, though. What she does do is help Hakeber up and put her hands on her shoulders, meeting her gaze and peering in to her eyes. "Hake-bear, you're not dead. See?" And then Tasha, hands busy, nips the scholar's nose. "Alive. Not even a ghost-person like Nora! I can smell you!"
"I'm not dead, really?" Hakeber asks, letting go of one of Tasha's shoulders to rub her nose. "Oh.. then it's the other thing, probably.."
"I'm pretty sure you're not dead, and I've met a lot of dead and not-alive-in-the-conventional-sense people, Hake. I'm practically an expert." But Tasha keeps searching, trying to find answers with her eyes where words fail. A Vartan reflex, if nothing else. "There's other things, what other things?"
"My brain," Hakeber says, and knocks on the top of her head with her still free hand. "Not fully human. The Kampf may have been on to something there. Eve wrote this for humans to decipher. It's activating my brain structures incorrectly.. or in the wrong order or something. Neural encryption. She did it so that none of the other species could figure it out."
"That does make a certain sense." Tasha glances back out of the half-opened door to the shower, turning her frown towards the notes before returing it to Hakeber. "But Hake, Yue can't read them. That means that she's not human either, doesn't it? I know she's a modified human. I can't read the notes. The only human on board that's descended from the original Expedition stock is Celeste."
"Yue.. oh, the gnome," Hakeber says, then laughs. "She can't read it because she doesn't know the ancient language that it relates to! Almost nobody does.. except for me, and the original priests of the Kampf I guess. But they didn't finish the translation, so probably don't know it either."
"Well, um, that's a problem isn't Hake? Maybe you shouldn't read it anymore, it's unhealthy. We don't know what Eve might have put in it to try and sabotuage another species reading it. She wasn't doing well Hake; She was about to commit suicide and we know she went out of her way not to help her last generation of children, so maybe it won't help us at all? Maybe it was just an embarassing good-bye. Hake, I'll just ask Adam and that will be the end of it. Let me handle it." Tasha releases one of Hakeber's shoulders so that she can run her hand over the other woman's head again. "It's alright, Hake. You've done enough. I didn't mean for you to suffer this much."
"But.. but.. it's the original cryptolinguistic code!" Hakeber says. "The source for all the Terran cryptolinguistic traditions - even the alchemy text that the Magi use portions of."
Tasha's ears go askew. "What, really? You know what all the confusing poems mean, Hake?"
"It's all a coded formula for the Philosopher's Stone," Hakeber says. "Ingredients, temperatures, all that. The stone of transmutation - either of elements or of spirit. It's the vril. That's what they were trying to recreate. The Progenitors are the Philosopher's Stone. That's what the Magi mission might have really been all about - finding that power."
Tasha's ears remain askew, but assume a different postion and level of askew, which involves flatening now. It strikes her that she had suspected some rof this, that the poetry was in some way a refinement effort. That's why she took it to the mages, ran the tests, to conform it and see how the ingredients would react. It was the end goal she dodn't know. Something to transmute, but why? What final product was intended?
"Hake-bear, you're saying it's all to re-create vril-energy? Or do something with it? But for what reason? And how, Hake? What is it all for?" Tasha asks, leaning in.
"Eve tried it originally.. using the vril to create people instead waiting for them to evolve," Hakeber rambles. "They couldn't handle the power though, and destroyed themselves. But it was their nature that really did it, not the power itself. It's the power that stopped the Sifras.. imagine if it really could be controlled by regular people. If the Progenitors created the starfaring races, then they should be eligible to inherit it, right? You've seen how far the First Ones went to gain power - controlling monster-gods from another dimension!"
"And the Old Ones went farther still, I know Hake-bear." And if that's it, if it's all about seeking power, who knows how many hungry beings are waiting to see how this turns out, Tasha realizes. The whole universe of sentient beings might desire that power; certainly she knows the Khattans would want it, perhaps the remaining Progenitors would want it all for themselves as well. Human elements, Naga elements. Hidden enemies she cannot see. The feeling of being watched by inumerable, powerful beings returns to Tasha. Is she heping, or leading these hungry beings to what they desire? And what about her?
It makes her stomach turn. She lets Hakeber go and leans back against the wal of the shower.
"And so I'm goin to go put the pieces together and open the door. Is that it, Hake? Is that what they're waiting for? Is that what all the tests have been for, so I don't leap at all that power and make myself some kind of god?" Tasha asks, wishing the shower had real water so she could jam her head in it right about now.
"I don't know," Hakeber says. "Eve's test showed that beings like us can't really handle it. But it's not just you going." The scholar gets a worried look now. "We don't really know anything about Melchior's construction. He was the weakest of the Magi Titans. But he's the only one left unmodified. And he's got that Khatta ghost hiding inside. Maybe there's something inside of him that's meant to harness that vril energy? He's interacted with the markers already, even if it was just the marker taking control of him. It's not about you becoming a god, so maybe it's about him?"
"So, so, the pilot is there to bring the machine, crete a god, then what? Then Ser Heraphel takes over? Then Mel doesn't need me anymore, or the Khattans swoop in and control Mel? Or Mel goes off and fixes everything?" Tasha asks, feeling a bit used, though not in the usual way. To think she might just be a component to get someone's pet project on schedual, a one-shot device, feels more like betrayal than use. Yet, she can't be sure of the betrayal or even of the intention of the action, save the guess that Khattans -- or their benefactor Mafdet -- are behind it. Yet she still needs to go, for other reasons. Even if it all comes to pass, it doesn't necessarily means she'll be without recourse or a chance. She'll be close to Adam. Close to answers.
Right?
"I'm getting that 'I don't know if I'm doing the right thing' feeling again, Hake. And the one where I feel used. The one where I feel betrayed and kind of stupid, too." But the worst of it might be the feeling she might be thrown away. Manipulated, used, and thrown away, with just enough motivation provided so that she'd do it anyway. That feeling she keeps to herself.
"Hey, this is just me guessing," Hakeber says. "When I was a bit crazier it didn't sound so scary, I guess. But.. you've got this spaceship! It could see underground, find all sorts of things.. so can't you turn its x-ray eyes on Melchior and see what might be hidden?"
"Uh." Can it? It's not as if Tasha hasn't tried to figure the Melchior out. She'd had sensors, the Niss, and a variety of other items and elements have a go at it, all to no real avail. And yet, something is clearly hidden. She's never quite been able to shake the feeling that something is up, that the Magi had a purpose concealed even from their pilots. She knows the Khattans to belong-term plotters well versed in hiding behind layers and layers of subterfuge, automation, and games. She can never bring herself to quite trust them, even after she feels she's settled things. "Well, um, maybe? We never tried using the main array on Mel before."
"Just.. be more careful this time," Hakeber says quietly. "I know Yue did something to me.. with her voice.. so that I'm blocking out something that must have hurt me.. but I know it happened and that it was because of the planetary scan."
"Don't worry about that. Hake. I Handled that." Tasha reaches over to absently pay Hakeber's head. Katha-hem isn't the concern it was, but what horror could lurk in Melchior? She doubts it's anything of the same power, but what if it's a subtle threat? Khattan defenses, something else? Mafdet's work? Her nose wrinkles. "I'll look in to it after we're done and Yue comes back, Hake."
The fresher timer shuts off. "Alright, I'll try not to worry," Hakeber says, and smiles. "But.. if I'm alive, and not eating steak, I want to get with you and Gabriel. At the same time, I mean. He's probably waiting out there on the bed.."
"I'm not sure I'm in the mood now, Hake." Tasha folds her arms, staring at the shower floor, expression a mask of thought and doubt. She's silent for a couple of seconds, clearly pondering. At length she sighs and looks up. "But I guess I do owe you for freaking out not once but twice. Besides, I brought liquor. And, um, other things. Shiny, flimsy things. Come on."
Tasha thumbs the exit and pushes off, hooking hwer arm around Hake's shoulders. "It's the best way to prove we're still alive."