The Unnamed Saga: The Four Thrones Script, Chapter Six: "Ghosts of a Nation"

Chapter Six: Ghosts of a Nation

Glenn, narration: "When I was born I was never given a name.  No one was there to give me one.  I never felt it was necessary.  Names just made it easier to point you out, to blame you.  I lived well without a name.  It gave me freedom; it made me a shadow."

 

Open to crowded streets lined with stalls.  Buildings are built up tall and everything feels claustrophobic.  Merchants shout in the background, plying their wares, and amidst the chaos is Child Glenn.

He slips around people like water and watches the way the adults move.

He watches one stall in particular.  It is piled high with fruit.

 

Glenn, narration: "When I was a kid I thought it was better to not have a name.  I used to tell myself that names weigh you down.  Where I came from you couldn't afford the extra weight."

 

Child Glenn steps out from the crowd.  He hides out of view of the merchant and grabs a handful of fruit.  The fruit pile tumbles out and the merchant catches Child Glenn red-handed.

Child Glenn runs away.  The merchant shouts for the guards.

Guards in the crowd come to life and push their way through.  Lifting their pikes, they clank after him.

Child Glenn moves quickly, darting through allies and squeezing through tight spaces.

The guard follow close behind, never losing sight of him entirely.

Child Glenn hops things and climbs through secret areas, and with each new feat another fruit spills from his grasp.

He finds a hole to hide in and climbs in.

The guards clank by.

Child Glenn peeks out of a broken doorway and then settles.

He smiles until he looks down at the lone fruit that survived the chase.

 

Zelos: "Glenn!"

 

Show Glenn standing on a hill top and looking down at the shattered remains of Emeraldine.  There is nothing but fractured buildings and an eerie red glow.  Zelos is beside him, looking expectant.  Zara and Elsea are standing a few feet away.  Mary seems distracted by her nails.  Red light washes over the entire party and their surroundings.  It is brighter the further into the city they go.

 

Zelos: "Glenn, hello?  Are you even listening?"

 

Glenn: "I—Sorry, what?”

 

Zelos: "I asked what we're doing next."

 

Glenn: "What do you mean?"

 

Zelos: "I mean, we've reached the border of the city.  Now what?"

 

Glenn: "We cut through."

 

Zara: "Are you sure that is such a good idea.  Look at this place."

 

Glenn: "It's the quickest way to the mountains."

 

Zara: “Maybe but I am more concerned as to whether it's the safest or not."

 

Glenn: "The city is abandoned."

 

Zara: "Yes, I believe that, but it is thick with magic.  Thick enough that even I can feel it.  Places like that are dangerous on their own."

 

Glenn: "There's nothing here."

 

Zara: "Not yet, but magic has a way of making things, stirring up nothing and then setting it on you."

 

Glenn: "We'll be fine."

 

Zara: "But..."

 

Glenn walks off.

Zelos shrugs and follows.

Zara pouts.

 

Elsea: "Don't worry, m'lady.  You have Zelos, Glenn, Mary, and myself to protect you, should the need arise."

 

Mary touches Zara's shoulder.

Zara jumps.

 

Mary: "The good lady speaks the truth, princess.  I dare to say that should there be a magical malignancy dwelling within the city it shall be the one afraid, for it has nary a hope of survival against the likes of us.  Why, in my prime, I could destroy an entire city and everyone in it with little more than a flick of my dainty wrist.  That was many years back, mind you, but I am not so aged as to be rendered harmless."

 

Mary strolls away, whistling jovially.

Zara watches her go.

 

Zara: "Truth be told, Elsea, that did almost nothing to ease my fears."

 

Elsea: "I'm sorry, m'lady."

 

Zara sighs.

 

Zara: "Come, we should hurry.  Those three are hardly the types to wait on a lady."

 

-The Four Thrones-

 

Cut to Zelos and Glenn leading the party deeper into the city.  Crumbling buildings flank them on both sides.  They grow thinner the deeper in they go.  The red light is thickest deeper in.

Zara stays close to Elsea as they move.

Zelos walks slowly and looks around, taking it all in.

 

Zelos: "Zara was right.  This place is thick with magic. Something terrible must have happened here."

 

Glenn: "Something terrible did happen here."

 

Zelos: "What?"

 

Glenn: "Hmm?"

 

Zelos: "What happened here?"

 

Mary: "The destruction of an entire city."

 

Zelos looks back at Mary.

 

Zelos: "That much I can tell.  I mean, how did it happen?  Why did it happen?  What could prompt destruction on this scale?"

 

Glenn and Mary trade glances.

Mary shrugs.

 

Mary: "There's no sense in hiding it from the boy.  Considering current events, I should like to tell him every dark truth his nation hides."

 

Glenn: "All of them?"

 

Mary smiles.

Mary: "The one that are relevant, at least."

 

Glenn: "Of course."

 

Zelos looks between them.

Zelos: "What are you two going on about?"

 

Glenn: "History."

 

Glenn walks away from the group.

Zelos and Mary rush to keep pace with him.

 

Zelos: "Fiona's history?"

 

Mary: "That very thing, in fact, and I'd be more than happy to share with you."

 

Zara: "Not another one of your stories."

 

Elsea: "Princess, don't be rude."

 

Mary: "If you don't wish to hear then plug your ears."

 

Zara plugs her ears with a resolute look.

Mary blows her a raspberry.

 

Zelos: "Mary, what exactly did happen here?"

 

Mary: "It is a long, terrible story, but I do feel it is important for you to hear.  You see, this city was once the throne of Emeraldine.  At its height, it was a center of commerce.  These narrow streets were home to more families than can be found in Silvara and Fiona combined.  It was truly a remarkable sight."

 

Zelos looks around in awe.

Zara quietly removes her fingers from her ears.

 

Mary: "The nation thrived on trade between its neighbors, and on the fishing the channel allowed."

 

Zelos: "If it was so grand then how did it become...this?"

 

Mary: "I'm getting to that.  You see, it was a time of conflict, and to end the war swiftly it was decided the city should fall.  And so it was the city was destroyed in the space of a single hour."

 

Zelos scoffs.

Zelos: "An hour? You expect me to believe that?"

 

Mary: "You don't believe me?  Then ask the noble knight.  You know him unable to tell a lie."

 

Zelos rolls his eyes.

Zelos: "Glenn, is she telling the truth?"

 

Glenn: "No, not in an hour.  An instant. All of it.”

 

Zelos: "That's...unbelievable."

 

Glenn: "We're wasting daylight.”

Fade to black.

 

-The Four Thrones-

 

Glenn, narration: "It was unbelievable.  Sometimes, it still is.  Sometimes when we travel I wake up and feel the cold snapping at my limbs, and I think I am that starving child at home in my shack."

 

Show Adolescent Glenn.  Starvation has him looking gaunt.  His cheeks are shallow.  His eyes are sunken.  He is standing with his back to a wall and two guards are lecturing him.  One shoves him.

 

Guard1: "I asked your name!"

 

Adolescent Glenn remains silent.

 

Guard1: "Damned mute!"

 

Guard1 strikes Adolescent Glenn across the face with his gauntlet.

Adolescent Glenn collapses to the ground with a bloody nose.

 

Guard2: "The boy's name's not important.  Even without one we know what he is: a street rat, hiding in the shadows, stealing from those who would make an honest living.

 

Adolescent Glenn remains on the ground holding his mouth.

Guard1 jerks him up.

 

Guard1: "You look at us when we talk to you, rat!"

 

Glenn, narration: "I will forever remember this day, this moment, every detail of it.  I will remember how my nose throbbed, all of the blood oozing from my lips, and I'll remember being afraid.  Afraid of the guard, of starvation, of the cold and the death it brought.  Afraid that they would look behind the crates and find the gold I had stolen."

 

Guard2: "He said look at us!"

 

Adolescent Glenn looks up at them.  There is a red gleam in his eyes.

He is frightened.

 

Glenn, narration: "And I will also remember that I never knew what real fear was, not until I saw the sky rip open and the flames pour out of the bloody, red wound."

 

Show the Emeraldine skyline.  It is black with a growing splash of red, like the sky has been set aflame.

There is a deep rumble that shakes the street.

The guards furrow their brows and turn.

 

Guard1: "What in the world..."

 

There are screams and explosions in the distance.

Guard1 looks down the narrow streets.  Red flames roll through the streets, stripping the ground of its rocky flesh.  People erupt into pyres.

Guard1 is eaten alive.

The entire screen turns red.

 

Glenn, narration: "True fear is when you can smell your own burning flesh before you can even feel it."

 

-The Four Thrones-

 

Cut to Glenn standing beside a fractured fountain.  Zara and Elsea are sitting nearby with an unrolled blanket.  They are eating rations.

Zelos is off exploring a fractured building but still within sight.

Mary is sitting on the fountain and tracing her fingers along the cracks.

 

Glenn: "Five minutes!"

 

Zelos: "Yeah, yeah!"

 

Zara: "But we've only just sat!"

 

Glenn: "We’re only a fourth of the way through the city and it’s almost noon.”

 

Zara looks around the ruins.

She shivers.

Zara: "Point well made.  Sir Glenn, I have a question for you."

 

Glenn: "Yes?"

 

Zara: "How come you know so much about Emeraldine?"

 

Glenn: "Why do you ask?"

 

Zara: "Curiosity."

 

Glenn: "Mary knows more. Ask her.”

 

Zara: "Mary knows a good deal more than anyone has the right to.  Besides, even if I did ask, she would never give an honest answer."

 

Mary: "Why, princess, I am offended!  Never would I have the temerity to tell a lie to one so prestigious as yourself!"

 

Zara: "Be that as it may.  Glenn?"

 

Glenn: "...I study history in my free time."

 

Zara: "I see."

 

Elsea: "Both soldier and scholar, that is most impressive."

 

Glenn rubs the back of his neck.

Glenn: "...Thanks."

 

Elsea, realizing everyone is staring at her, blushes.

 

Glenn: "We’ve wasted enough time. Let’s go.”

 

Settle on the fountain as they pack.

Show the fountain regress.  Fires swirl around it.

Show where the crack Mary was tracing formed under the exposure to the heat.

Pull back and show the devastation of Emeraldine.

Cut to the smoking bodies of the guards.  The streets are blackened with flame.  There is a grunt.

Slowly, one guard moves and then rolls off of a surviving person.

Adolescent Glenn sits up.  His left arm is badly burnt.  Red cinders gleam in his blackened flesh.

He looks at the devastation around him.  The sky continues to ooze red and a streak of red lightning strikes another part of the city.

Adolescent Glenn looks at the body of Guard2.

Guard2 wheezes.

 

Adolescent Glenn: "Why did you..."

 

Guard2: "Survive..."

 

There is stomping through the street, the clanking of steel.  Fionan soldiers run through with swords drawn, killing anyone who is still alive.

Adolescent Glenn looks at them.  Tears roll down his blackened face.

He tries to help the guard up.

 

Guard2: "No...Go!"

 

Adolescent Glenn: "But..."

 

Guard2: "Survive!"

 

Adolescent Glenn hesitates.  The Fionan soldiers are moving in.

They see him and shout.

Adolescent Glenn looks back up at them.

He stands and runs away.

 

Glenn, narration:  "I ran as hard as I could and choked on the smell of death in the air.  No one knew those streets like I did, but they were unrecognizable to me.  They were littered with the bodies of guards who harassed me, children I envied, merchants who unknowingly fed me for years.  They all died and I, the boy without a name, survived.  It didn't seem right.  Sometimes it still doesn't."

 

Focus on Glenn's face as he runs and cries.

Zoom out, showing the burning city behind him.

Zoom out further to the island map with a glowing red spot on it.

Adjust to the modern map.

Zoom back in to show the party moving through a dusty field.  Even the rubble here has been smoothed to sand.  The light is brightest here.

 

Zara: "Oh my..."

 

Mary: "This would be the center of the attack.  Where the capitol stood, most like."

 

Zara: "How can you tell?"

 

Elsea: "The magic is thickest here.  While the spell certainly would not have started here, this is where the mages focused their last strike.  This is what finally destroyed Emeraldine."

 

Zara: "This sort of carnage must have taken an army of mages."

 

Mary: "It took only one."

 

Elsea: "With all due respect, that is impossible.  No mage could control such power magic alone."

 

Mary: "None alive, mayhap, but surely one of your skill has heard the stories."

 

Zara: "Stories?  What stories?"

 

Elsea: "Myths, m'lady, stories of an ageless wizard who could bend the very fabrics of the world to his will."

 

Zara: "Does anyone with such skill truly exist?"

 

Elsea: "No, m'lady."

 

Mary: "Yes, not but a myth to push mages, to make certain mages fall not prey to the demons of contentment."

 

Glenn looks away from the girls to Zelos.

Zelos is standing, staring up at the sky as if transfixed.

Glenn walks over to Zelos.

Glenn: "You okay?"

 

Zelos is pale and sweating.

 

Zelos: "I...I can't..."

 

Zelos winces and screams.

Golden flames erupt from his eye and shoot up into the sky, illuminating it.  This is accompanied by the deafening squeal of a bird.

Zoom out to show the golden torrent of flame and, in silhouette, Burgess and Crane watching from the distance.

Zelos collapses into the sand.

 

Glenn: "Mary, Elsea!"

 

Everyone rushes to Zelos.

Elsea and Mary kneel at his side.

 

Zara: "What's happening to him?"

 

Mary: "Glenn, that was magic. Very, very old magic!

 

Elsea: "He's running a fever."

 

Mary stands and looks at Glenn.

 

Mary: "What happened to him?  Leave nothing out."

 

Glenn: "He was staring up at the sky.”

 

Zara: "This isn't the first time.  It happened in the castle, too."

 

Mary looks up.

Show the red sky with hints of yellow in it.

She looks at their surroundings.

Show the fountain.

Show some crumbling buildings in the distance.

 

Mary: "The magic is thickest here..."

 

Mary kneels down and opens Zelos' eye.  She peers into it even as the golden light is shining from it.

 

Zelos: "No, stop...I'll..."

 

Mary: "Oh, hush..."

Mary looks at Glenn.

Mary: "Something is inside of him, and whatever it is, it's strongest here.  We need to move.  Quickly."

 

Elsea: "I must respectfully disagree.  Zelos is clearly very sick.  He needs to rest."

 

Zara: "But dusk is nearing..."

Zara looks warily at their surroundings.

 

Elsea: "Princess, the prince isn't well.  He needs time to recover."

 

Mary: "Lady Elsea, while I do ever so respect your opinion, I fear that we must disregard it in this instance.  Zelos needs to be moved and quickly, or else the magic will destroy him, burning him up from the inside."

Mary looks to Glenn.

Mary: "Glenn?"

 

Glenn looks between Mary and Elsea.

Elsea nods.

Glenn lifts Zelos.

He waits for a moment, still looking between them.

 

Mary: "Hurry!"

 

Glenn sets off with Elsea and Mary trailing.

Zara is left behind.

She sighs.

 

Zara: "I am beginning to fear that we may never leave this damned place."

 

Cut to black.

 

-The Four Thrones-

 

Glenn, narration: "There is one detail about this day that I could never recall clearly.  As important as it was, I just couldn't make sense of it, I couldn't register it, not until I was there again."

 

Show the remains of Emeraldine burning.  The sky above is red.  Different parts of the city continue to explode.

Adolescent Glenn is running through a nearby forest.  His arm is now burned out and completely black.

He ducks behind a bush and hides as Fionan soldiers stomp by.

 

Glenn, narration: "I had run all night, and I was tired and aimless, an arrow in the dark.  The soldiers couldn't find me, they didn't know the city like I did.  They didn't know how I hid.  I ran until I was behind enemy lines.  The soldiers weren't the hammer.  They were the clean-up, there to find any survivors.  I watched them from the safety of the forest."

 

After the soldier run by Adolescent Glenn peeks out from the bushes.

He leaves the bush and moves through the forest.

 

Glenn, narration: "I watched them retreat, followed them to their camp.  I didn't know what I was going to do, but I felt like I had to move, to do something, to stop them.  What I didn't know was that they were running just before landing the killing blow."

 

Adolescent Glenn leans against a tree and holds his burnt arm.  Crusted blood is splashed across his face.

He runs from the tree and makes it to the base of the very same hill he would look over the city from years later.

 

Glenn, narration: "That's when I saw her.  The woman I swore I would never forget.  In my struggle to survive, to become someone real and alive, I suppose I had put it behind me, but seeing the scar she left in the sky once more brought it all back.  How could it not?  She destroyed my entire world...And all this time, she's been travelling right beside me."

 

Adolescent Glenn stands at the base of the hill, looking.

Show Mary, her staff in hand, as she writes enormous runes into the sky.

Show the two of them, him at the bottom of the hill looking up, her at the top.  Red light dances around them.

Then the city erupts behind him.  A rush of wind blows smoke and debris past Adolescent Glenn, who stares impotently.

He turns to face the shattered husk of his city.  A red blow is coming from where the blast was centered.

He falls to his knees.

Finally, he begins to cry.

Cut to Mary handing off her staff.

She looks back at the city for a moment.

 

Mary: "We're done here."

 

She turns and leaves.

 

-The Four Thrones-

 

Cut back to the party at night.  They are still in the city, though they are around buildings again.  The sky is still faintly red.  There is a small fire.  Mary and Elsea are sitting around Zelos.  There is a faint outline of gold beneath his eyelid.  He is sleeping fitfully.

Zara is standing by the fire, shivering and staring fearfully into the dark.

 

Zara: "No matter what runes Elsea placed, I don't feel safe here."

 

Glenn: "Nothing will happen."

 

Zara: "That's not what you said before."

 

Glenn stares at Mary.

Glenn: "There’s nothing here that’s more dangerous than what we’ve already faced.”

 

Zara glances at him.

Zara: "...Are you kidding me right now?"

 

Glenn walks over to Zelos.

He kneels down.

Glenn: "How is he?"

 

Elsea looks up. She is clearly tired.  Faint traces of sky-blue magic linger on her hands.

She smiles weakly.

Elsea: "His fever is breaking.  Hopefully, he can travel by morning."

 

Glenn: "Good."

Glenn stands and looks at Mary.

Glenn: "We need to talk."

 

Mary: "Yes, sir knight?"

 

Glenn: "In private."

Glenn walks off without waiting for a response.

Mary looks at Elsea, who shrugs.

Mary shrugs in turn and follows Glenn.

 

Mary: "I'll be right back, pumpkin. The Good Lady Elsea will take care of you while I am away."

 

Glenn leads Mary away into the darkness.

They stop outside of the camp.  The red glow of the sky gives them enough light to see by.  Glenn stands with his arms crossed and his back to her.

Mary puts a hand on her hip.

 

Mary: "You requested an audience, sir knight?"

 

Glenn: "It was Fiona that destroyed Emeraldine."

 

Mary: "Sir knight, you needn't play dumb.  An ardent historian such of yourself should well know that simple fact."

 

Glenn grabs his sheathed sword.

Glenn: "And they used magic to do it."

 

Mary: "So it would seem."

 

Glenn: "And you said that it was done by a single magician."

 

Mary: "The good lady Elsea was quick to correct my wild assertion, was she not?"

 

Glenn: "You were the court magician when I joined the military."

 

Mary stretches languidly.

Mary: "Yes, is there a point lost somewhere in these obvious statements?"

 

Glenn: "And you haven’t aged a day.”

 

Mary: "Why is that a concern of yours, sir knight?  Do you wish to proposition me?  Fearful my age will render me unable to carry a child?  If you would be so kind, stop me once I've hit the mark."

 

Glenn: "It was you.  It's always been you."

 

Mary: "My word, what are you carrying on about?"

 

Glenn turns.

Glenn: "I know what you did!"

 

Mary stops, her face losing its playfulness.  Her eyes are dark, serious, and her bearing showing more sobriety than before.

Mary: "And what, may I ask, do you intend to do about it?"

 

Glenn: "The people here.  They'll never rest with you standing on their graves!”

 

Mary: "You mean to give them respite, then?  Were I you, I would stop to reconsider my actions.  I destroyed this entire city with my magic, and no matter how long I've lived, I will never be so old as to be slain by a mere man."

 

Glenn draws his sword.

He charges Mary.

There is a bright flesh of red, and Glenn flies through the air.

Glenn slams into an aged wall which crumbles beneath him.

When the dust settles Mary is holding his sword in one hand.  Her other hand is extended.  The runes on arm shine bright red in the dark night.  Magical, red blades hover in the air above Glenn, poised to strike.

 

Mary: "You made a grave mistake in pursuing this.  That I promise you, sir knight."

 

Glenn: "Do it!  Finish what you've started!  Kill the only survivor of Emeraldine!"

 

Mary holds the blades suspended in the air.

She sighs.

The magic fades into the night.

She tosses Glenn his blade.

 

Glenn: "What..."

 

Mary turns her back to Glenn.

She sits on the ground, curling up and hugging her knees.

Mary: "This much death...It leaves one so tired."

 

Glenn stands.

He grabs his blade.

Glenn: "And yet even an entire city wasn't enough for you.”

 

Mary: "I feel my constant reminders are becoming redundant, but I must again insist that the fiasco at the castle is infinitely more complex than you care to admit."

 

Glenn: "Even if that’s true, you have more blood on your hands than can ever be washed off.”

 

Mary: "You're exactly right, which is why I am giving you this one chance. I have no interest in completing my genocide, Glenn, so here is your opportunity.  Finish me.  Killed the woman who killed your people.  Take your revenge and put these ghosts to rest."

 

Glenn steps forward.

Glenn: "I should.”

He poises the blade for her throat.

Glenn: "Death follows you everywhere you go!”

 

Cut to baby Zelos in his crib sleeping quietly.

Pull back to reveal Younger Glenn and Mary standing beside the crib.

Mary reaches down and pulls the blanket up around baby Zelos.

 

Mary: "Glenn, a tragedy occurred in the night, one which will forever change the history of this very nation in ways previously unexpected.”

 

Younger Glenn remains quiet but looks at Mary.

 

Mary: "I have task for you."

 

Younger Glenn: "Ma'am?"

 

Mary: "Promise me, whatever happens tonight, whatever screams you hear, whatever pleas, you will not leave this room."

 

Younger Glenn: "What?"

 

Mary: "Promise me that no matter what happens you will forever protect this child."

 

Mary caressed baby Zelos' head.  Tears are in her eyes.

 

Younger Glenn: "Miss Mary, I'm afraid I don't..."

 

Mary: "Please, Glenn, promise me this."

 

Younger Glenn looks into the crib.

Younger Glenn: "I promise, I'll never let anything happen to him."

 

Mary smiles sadly.

Mary: "I know you won't."

 

Cut to a black screen and screams.

Show Younger Glenn by the crib, his hand on his sword.  He is staring at the door across the room.

Show the door.

Show blood pooling beneath the door.

 

Cut back to Glenn and Mary in the ruins of Emeraldine at night.  Glenn has his sword ready to pierce her but is standing still, staring at her.  Mary has her back to him, her head resting on her arms, her neck exposed.  Her eyes are closed and tears are rolling down her cheeks.

Glenn sheaths his sword.

Mary sniffs and wipes at her eyes.

 

Mary: "Am I to assume that you had a change of heart?"

 

Glenn looks away from her.

Glenn: "No.  I took the time to look at the whole picture.  I’m not who I was, the nameless boy fighting and stealing to survive.  I’m not the last survivor of Emeraldine.  That boy died with everyone else.  There’s no vengeance here.  Only tragedy.”

Glenn walks around.

He kneels in front of her.

They look each other in the eye.

Glenn: "The ghosts of this city aren’t my burden.  They’re yours, and that is more punishment than my blade can bring you.”

Glenn stands and walks away.

Glenn: "It's like I said: your hands will never be clean."

Glenn leaves.

Mary is left behind, crying in the shadows, with the red light of the lingering magic surrounding her on all sides.

Chapter End.

Stargazers: Federation Cruiser Siegfried

Federation Cruiser Siegfried

            Arthur wakes first, his head ringing and his body sluggish.  He had been sedated before being brought onboard the ship and now finds himself at rest in an infirmary.  The interior is a soft, washed pink.  The lights are dimmed.  He has a curtain pulled for privacy and can see shadows cast along it.  A nearby monitor shows his heartbeat.  He sits up before help can come.

            A nurse meets him, a short, stout man with dark hair wearing red scrubs with black clothes underneath.  He has an identification badge that Arthur only glances at.  This man is a member of the Federation military, and that is all Arthur needs to know about him.  He doesn’t like the scrutiny or the mistrust, but he had been trained for a long time not to trust a Fed, and he can’t bring himself to betray the notion now.

            “How are the girls?”

            “The Commander will be here soon,” the nurse says coolly.  He has a clipboard and flips over its holographic interface.  “Your injuries were largely superficial.  We pulled your records, those that were public.”  The nurse looks at him.  “You know how to roll with the punches, don’t you?”

            Arthur goes quiet.  He retreats back into his head and watches from there.  It is instinct to him, his military training kicking in.  They are not interrogating him yet, and he finds it unlikely that he will be tortured again, but he feels less safe here than he did on Lancelot’s ship.  At least there he knew who the enemies were.  Here, they will hide their blades behind a smile.  It is all politics until the first bullet is fired, and then it is war.

            The nurse takes Arthur’s vitals and records them before leaving him behind his curtain.  Arthur hears a door slide open and close.  A short time later, the door does this again, and a man enters.  This man is tall and strong.  His jaw is pronounced, his body long and powerful.  He wears an officer’s uniform with a series of badges pinned to his chest.  Arthur doesn’t know enough about the Federation military to discern their meaning, but they are impressive none-the-less and tell him what he needs to know—this man is the Commander.

            The Commander regards him quietly.  He stands tall, back straight, arms folded behind him.  They make eye contact, and the Commander does not look away.  After a lingering silence, where Arthur is quietly appraised, the Commander says, “You seem in good health.  I trust that my people have been taking care of you.”

            Arthur stays quiet for a moment and weighs his every action.  He allows a nod.

            “That is good.  You might be wondering where you are—though I have some idea that you might have figured it out already.  This is my ship, the Federation Cruiser Siegfried.  It is newly built and still getting its kinks worked out, but it is a fine ship that runs smoothly, and it will take you wherever you might need to get to, but we before we discuss where you need get to, I have a few other questions.

            “You may or may not know—though I am assuming that you do—but the Federation military does not visit Hades often.  No one does, really, except for criminals.  We fly the boarders, for various purposes, but we keep clear of this area.  A war would erupt—could erupt now—should we be seen interloping in such criminal business.  The atmosphere is tense on Hades, which raises the question as to why we stepped in.”

            The Commander pauses.  He gives Arthur a moment to speak.  Arthur stares fixedly at the ground, so the Commander continues.  “We’ve heard some interesting radio traffic, and it led us there.  Military involvement on the planet Hades is peculiar, almost unheard of, but strange happenings call for strange responses.  Would you like to tell me, Captain Jameson Arthur, formerly of the Republic Military’s Centurion program, what it was that you were doing on Hades, and what had brought so much firepower down upon you and your friends?”

            Arthur keeps a wary silence and watches the Commander as he does.  They already know his history—they know about Centurion—which likely means that they suspect him already.  Silence could be incriminating, but the wrong words could find him dead.  He chooses carefully what he will reveal and what he won’t.  The Three Army Accord would see a war break out over what was brought onto this ship.

            “They were pirates,” Arthur says.  “We were on a research facility—I don’t know what they were researching—and we got hit by random.  They were taking anything they could salvage, metals, electronics, people.  I was doing guard detail, but they caught us by surprise.  In remote places, it can be hard to be kept in the loop sometimes.  I managed to escape when they docked in Charon, and I brought those two with me.  They were chasing us down with everything they had.”

            The Commander listens quietly and without judgment.  His face remains passive until the end.  Then, he rubs his chin.  “All of that firepower for escapees?”

            Arthur shrugs.  “Who knows what those sorts of people are thinking? If they were rational, they wouldn’t be doing pirates in the first place.”

            “You and I, sir, have different opinions of rational. That sort of freedom can be appealing to some and isn’t lightly given up for a handful of slaves, not if they have a ship full of supplies.  Who were you doing research for?”

            Arthur pauses heavily.  “I don’t know,” he says.

            The Commander lifts his eyebrows before smiling.  “You don’t?”

            “I worked for a private military contractor.  To my knowledge, the research station was private as well.  They didn’t fill me in on details, and I didn’t ask.”

            “With your history, you might find yourself more cautious.”

            “I probably should have.”

            The Commander laughs.  “Your records list you as Olympic, so we will see you back if you were taken by pirates or slavers.  We’ll reach out soon.  Until then, you’re welcome to mess and the infirmary, but we’ll be keeping you in the hold with the girls. We’ll call on you if we need anything.”

            “Thanks.”

            The Commander nods and leaves.

 

-Stargazers part 1-

 

            Arthur is returned to the hold, escorted by three guards, each carrying automatic rifles at the ready.  The safeties are kept on, but their presences are made known.  He keeps his eyes down but remains ready as well.  Though they are at a relative calm, it is a calm within an enemy vessel, and Arthur is trained to stay primed for combat even when at rest.

            He waits in the hold while the nurses onboard continue their examination of the others.  Chastity is injured, but the damage is superficial.  Lancelot is a skilled interrogator and a master at torture.  He did nothing to her that couldn’t be set right.  It was his intention to break her mind and not her body.  Too much duress can get false confessions or, in the case of death, nothing at all.  He wanted her exposed, not gutted.

            Lady is unharmed, though the examination is short.  Arthur worries most over what was found in that time, but the guards betray nothing to him when they drop the others off.  Chastity falls asleep beside Arthur on the cot where he sits.  Lady stands at the doorway, vigilant.  Restless, Arthur stands and leaves to walk the hallways while their movement isn’t restricted, to get a feel for the atmosphere of the ship and how it might have changed following the Lady’s examination and interrogation.

            Arthur walks the halls unattended.  He walks lightly with his head down.  Soldiers pass him, their eyes lingering.  He stops by a holographic window and stares out into sea of stars that surround them.  Hades glimmers in the fore, the long, steel tether of Charon catching the light of the star.  By itself, the planet looks almost like a constellation of stars.

            “Arthur.”  Commander Blake approaches him from behind.  Arthur turns to meet him.  They stand together in silence, Blake with his arms folded behind his back, Arthur with his hands at his side.  Siegfried remains in orbit, drifting silently around the planet.  The light side of the planet comes into view.  Charon remains in sight no matter where they go.

            “Stretching your legs.”

            “Need to make sure they haven’t fallen off.”

            Blake smiles.  “I can understand.  Things were bad down there.”  They speak without making eye contact.  There is a wall between them.  Blake is fishing for information, and Arthur remains unwilling to give it.  “I trust that your friends have been returned to you.”

            Arthur nods.

            “Good.  And they are in good health?  I must ask to keep my crew honest, you know.”

            “We’re all being treated well.”

            “That is gratifying to hear.  Though, I must ask, I believe my medical staff is playing a trick on me.”

            “Oh?”

            “The tall one, she has no records, military or otherwise.  It could be she’s undocumented, but that is a problem in itself, isn’t it?”

            Arthur remains quiet.

            “What did she do on your base?”

            Arthur pauses, shrugs.  “Not sure,” he says.  “I mean to say, she wasn’t there.  She was already on the ship.”

            “And you found her?”

            Arthur nods.

            “She seems quite protective of the girl, of Ms. Clarke—Ah, Dr. Clarke— to have only just met her.”

            “People get strange when they’re put into difficult situations like this.”  Arthur pauses thoughtfully, and when Blake doesn’t speak, he says, “They’re not soldiers like we are.”

            “Like you were,” Blake says.  “But you’re right.  It is easy to forget that civilians aren’t trained for such things.  Still, there is something else that baffles me about their report.”  Blake pauses now to see if Arthur responds.  “Surviving a crash like that without injury.  We found her unconscious, but…”

            “She got lucky.”

            “Very.”  Blake shifts his weight and taps his boot against the floor.  “I’ve gotten lucky before, you know, a bit like you.  You suffered, what, one lasting injury in your time as a soldier?”

            “My knee,” Arthur says.  He knocks his right knee with his knuckle and announces the metal plate used to replace it.  “Got it injured on my last mission, actually.  Pure luck.”

            “Bad luck.” Blake smiles.  “Lost a part of my left leg,” he says.  “Got it replaced with synthetic bits, all of them meant to make me stronger and faster.  Damn thing aches when it rains, though.  You ever get that?”

            “A little stiff when I wake up, but nothing when it rains.”

            “Lucky.  Keeps me spaceborne, honestly.  I read that you forewent any modern prosthetics—just a plate.  May I ask why?”

            “Didn’t need it,” Arthur says.  “I don’t see the reason to ever be more than human.”

            “Then tell me your secret, because it seems to me with how people walk about, always expanding into the stars, we do nothing but look for how to be more than human.”

            Arthur shrugs.  “For me, I saw war, and I realized that nothing else we do will ever make us more than what we are.  Everything good or bad about us is stuck right here.”  Arthur taps his chest.  “Machines, prosthetics, synthetics, none of that will make us less of this.”

            Blake nods.  “That’s one way of looking at it, but it does raise a question.  If nothing will make us more than we are, then I have to ask, that woman traveling with you and Dr. Clarke, do you happen to know what she is?”

            Arthur goes quiet.  A hundred answers pass through his head, but none of them are real enough to say aloud, so he doesn’t answer.  Instead, he asks, “What do you mean?”

            “The medical examination, the x-rays, they all told us something very peculiar.  At a glance, it seems entirely human, but when you look on the inside, there is nothing but steel in place of bone, like a robot from science fiction, like a miniaturized Gigas suit.  Ring any bells?”

            “Maybe extensive medical replacement?  What did her file say?”

            “I told you, no file.”

            Arthur goes quiet, pausing as if he is considering it but really searching for something else to push it aside.  In escaping Hector to Siegfried, he jumped from an open flame to a nest of vipers: it is better only in that he can fight death this way.  “I see,” he says, “I forgot.  Well, I don’t know much about her.  She doesn’t talk, so I don’t know what I can tell you.  Like I said, we were all picked up for slaving and…”

            “Yes, you had said.”  The warmth has left Blake now, and he is foregoing an attempt at charming the information out of Arthur.  “Well, thank you for the chat, Captain.  It has been a pleasure.”  He nods and walks away, leaving Arthur alone with his thoughts and with the stars.

 

-Stargazers part 1-

 

            Chastity wakes to find the Lady at her side. The Lady is awake and watching her with impassive stoicism.  Chastity sits up and rubs the sleep from her eyes.  She looks the Lady over but finds no obvious harm done.  Her own body, however, is covered in scrapes and bruises.  She puts her back to the cold steel of the holding cell where they are.  Her memories are foggy at best and things best left unsorted.  She doesn’t want to remember Cipher dying in her head, nor does she want to remember anything that happened after.

            She starts speaking only as a way to distract herself, saying, “We’re lucky to be alive, huh? Any idea where we are?”  She is surprised when she hears the Lady answer.

            “Siegfried.  Federation Cruiser, Federation Space Fleet.  Commanding Officer Commander Robin Blake.”

            The voice is synthetic but nearly human and feminine in tone and timbre, but the inflection is not natural.  Chastity stares for a moment before she responds.  “Did you—you just spoke, didn’t you?”

            The Lady turns to her, eyes faintly glowing.  “Yes.”

            Chastity smiles for the first time in days.  “You’re talking, you’re actually talking.  I’m talking right now with a Guide.  Unbelievable.”  She meets the Lady’s gaze and finds it far-off, still distant, like the Lady is watching something else entirely while in the room with her, and Chastity marvels at what she sees.  “How long have you been able to speak?”

            “I could always speak,” the Lady says, voice and eyes equally distant.  “I had no words.”

            “And you have words now?”

            “Yes.”

            Chastity looks at the Lady and wishes that Cipher were still there.  For years, she had an extra mind inside of her own, and while she now has theories, she hasn’t the tools to build on them.  Out of desperation to learn, “Your eyes are glowing.  I saw them do the same when we were on the last ship, and also when we were on the planet’s surface.  Is that a normal part of your function, or does it signify something else?”

            “I am learning.”

            “Learning?  Are you, by chance, interacting with the ship’s extra-net connection?”

            “Yes.  There is so much,” the Lady says. “I have been asleep for so long.”

            Chastity smiles and presses her fingertips together.  She looks at the scaffolding of her fingers and then between them as she thinks.  “How long were you asleep?”

            “Unclear.  There is no basis for comparison between our two calendar systems.”

            Chastity laughs.  “That’s probably true.  Do you remember anything from before you were asleep?”

            “I remember you.”

            Chastity blushes and looks away.  She is just about to speak again when the doors slide open with a rush of air.  Arthur enters.  He looks healthy save for the bruising across his face, and he carries himself not with a limp, but showing care on his left side.  He joins Chastity on the cot.  “Are you well?”

            Chastity nods.

            “Good, and how is,” he looks to the Lady.

            “She’s speaking.”

            “She is?”  They look expectantly at the Lady, who continues to stare at the distant wall.

            “Jameson Arthur, former Republic Military, Special Operation: Centurion.  Public data is limited due to the program’s clandestine nature.  However, parts of it were made public following…”

            “Please, don’t.”

            The light in the Lady’s eyes fades as they make eye contact.  The Lady nods.  “Understood.  I do speak.”

            “I’ve noticed.”  Arthur rubs his chin and sighs.  “When did that start?”

            “Only moments ago,” Chastity says.  “Maybe something in the car crash jarred her memory.”

            “No, I’ve merely amassed enough words in your language to comprehend and express.”

            Arthur looks between the two of them and sits back.  “Right.”  He rests his hands on his knees to keep his back straight.  “Well, that’s interesting, I suppose, but it makes things harder.”

            Chastity’s brow knits.  “What does it make harder?”

            “We’re aboard a Federation cruiser who has made contact with the Olympic fleet.  They’re taking us back to them.”

            “That’s good news, isn’t it?”

            “The Commanding officer has made a log.  They are suspicious as to my origins,” the Lady says, eyes alight and gaze distant.

            “Exactly.”  Arthur sighs.  “Which means that this is a play of some sort.  I am just trying to figure out what.”

            Chastity curls up on the cot.  “They won’t hurt us, will they?”

            “Not if they’re contacting the Republic.  That would be far too dangerous to treat us like that, especially following the attention they would have garnered at Hades.  No, they’re not going to hurt us, but they might use us as a bargaining chip once the Republic gets here.  Either way, we need to tread carefully.”   He looks to the Lady and says, “And you should keep your voice off for now.”

            “Affirmative.”

            They settle in, Arthur’s back at rest against the wall.  Chastity looks between them and wrings her hands.  “One more question, though, if I can impose.  Lady, do you have anything that we should call you?  What is your name?”

            The Lady looks toward her.

            “I mean, should we just keep calling you the Lady?”

            The Lady nods silently.

            Chastity nods.  “Then, I guess, we should introduce ourselves.  Lady, I am Chastity Clarke, and this is Jameson Arthur.  It’s nice to meet you.”