Starchildren Options

[Kane]

Two stories at once is a lot for me, so these updates may not be as frequent. I also did not plan on this but a certain young woman in my head refused to be quiet.

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Prologue (May 7th, 2330)
Ebbside, Neon City, Volii Alpha


Andromeda awoke with a start. Somebody was pounding frantically on the door to her sleep crate and had ruined a perfectly deep slumber after a long day of work and even longer night of partying to celebrate her birthday. There was no way in hell it was daylight already which meant she probably left her slate at Euphorika. Again.

The bleary-eyed young woman fumbled in the dark for her glasses while the pounding on her door continued. If whomever it was out there kept it up much longer, she felt like her head would start pounding, too. Having finally fished her glasses off of the cold floor Andromeda slid them on and then clicked her bedside lamp to life. Most of her clothes were strewn about the floor of her metal box, which also explained why she was now so cold.

Two minutes or so later, she was half-dressed, and her nearly decrepit Solstice was clutched tightly in her left hand. Please don’t fizzle out on me now old girl, she thought. Looking down at the worn laser pistol in her hand, she sighed and silently chided herself for never spending any credits on a decent gun. The little pistol had been thrown out for good reason, yet Andromeda had fished out of the garbage anyway and fixed it up in the most half-assed way possible. Each time she squeezed the trigger was just another gamble on whether or not the damned thing would even fire.

This time she prayed to gods she didn’t give a [censored] about that it wouldn’t let her down. And then she finally opened the door.

Andre burst into her sleep crate and slammed the door shut behind him.

“It’s about goddamn time you answered! What the hell took you so long, Dro?”

Andromeda blinked in surprise at the urgency in his voice. She’d known Andre for over six months now, and the man was usually as cool as a cucumber. Even when he drunkenly tried to flirt with her. Andre had taken a courier job for HopeTech on Valo and was reassigned here to Neon City, much to his initial dismay, but they had grown close in the time since. The man was of average height with dark skin and kind brown eyes that sometimes hid behind a mop of unkempt blue hair.

“Slow down, Andre,” she said. “What’s the big deal?”

“No time to slow down. The ‘big deal’ is that your [censored], Dro. Absolutely [censored].”

“Wha -”

“Gather up what you care about the most and stuff it in your bag. Security thugs are closing in already �" I set up a prox alert for when they get within twenty meters.” Andre saw her bag sitting on the floor near the door, grabbed it, and handed it to Andromeda. “Pack! Now!”

“Andre, I am not going to move another goddamn muscle until you tell me what the [censored] is going on!”

“[censored]. Fine. Start packing and I’ll explain while you go.” He waited until a few things had been shoved unceremoniously in her bag before continuing: “Those Ryujin files you hacked yesterday for your anonymous buyer? They were tagged for Bayu’s personal records. Dunno how he tracked you down so quick but if you wanna live to see your twenty-sixth birthday then we need to get you the hell out of this city.”

Her blood froze. Benjamin Bayu. The Administrator of Neon City and possibly the most corrupt man in the settled systems. His fingers crept into every business venture on the planet and the security force was at his beck and call. No one did business in Neon without giving him a cut, and his ruthlessness against would-be competitors was legendary. Everyone who lived in Neon lived comfortably by skirting his brutality.

If she was on his radar at long last, then she had definitely taken the wrong job, pile of credits notwithstanding. Being a Cyber Runner in Neon always ran the risk that Andromeda would one day cross paths with that monster, but she had always been careful about her choice of contracts in the hope of avoiding Bayu. Her luck had finally run out and yet she still was uncertain about leaving the only home she ever knew.

“I can’t just up and leave!” stammered Andromeda, freezing midway through emptying the contents of her wall safe. “My whole life is here! It’s all I’ve ever known!”

“Doesn’t matter. Bayu will have you killed just to make an example - “ Andre ceased talking abruptly at the sound of rapid beeping emanating from his slate. His face took on an unhealthy pallor and he nervously ran his hand through his hair. “Time to go. They got there sooner than I expected.” Andre pulled another slate out of his jacket pocket and gave it to Andromeda. “Here, take this and give it to Doc Manning at the clinic. He’ll give you a short makeover to fool security at the spaceport.”

“Andre, I...” Andromeda was at a loss for words. The sudden shock of what was happening and the thought of fleeing her life �" Neon, Andre, the friends and people she’d grown up around �" was too much. Hot tears fell down her pale cheeks and splashed on the floor of her crate. She raised a hand to brush them away, and then shoulder her bag. “This isn’t over,” she finally said with a firmer resolve than what she felt inside. “Bayu isn’t chasing me out of my [censored] home forever. I’ll come back for all of you, I promise.” Andromeda stood on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on Andre’s cheek. “I promise.”

“We’ll do what we can to clear your name. You need to go. Now. They’ll be here any second. I can keep them occupied for a few minutes but they’ll tell me to get lost before long. Go!”

Andromeda pulled her hood up to hide her vibrant fuchsia hair and fled into the night without another word. The garbled chatter of Neon Security radios echoed up from the alleyway to her right, so she moved silently away from them and ducked into a dark alcove that was still within view of her crate. It was hard to much of anything, but she recognized the dim form of Andre now standing back outside of her door and soon heard him pounding on it once again.

“Yo! Open up, Jen!” Andre’s voice rang out. “Open up!”

Flashlights illuminated and three security goons stood at the ready, their guns trained on her friend. Andre’s hands flew skyward while the nearest guard began to pat him down.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” demanded another guard.

“Damn, take it easy, bud,” said Andre. “My friend lives here and she’s gonna be late for her shift at Generdyne again. Just trying to get her ass on the move!”

“Jen, huh? Yeah, sure pal.” The guard shoved him aside and addressed one of his partners. “What do you got, Reg?”

“Andre Mitarn, known associate of one Andromeda Renault. Courier for HopeTech.”

“Did ya hear that you lying piece of [censored]?” laughed the first guard. “Jen my ass. Where’s the girl?”

“If I knew where Jen was I wouldn’t be here, officer.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever, punk. Reg, you know the drill �" get him out of here.”

Andre lowered his hands to leave while Andromeda released a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. Her friend turned to walk away but Andre only made it a few paces before two sharp cracks rang out through Ebbside. He fell to the ground in a pool of blood while Andromeda watched in silent horror. She shoved her hand in her mouth in a desperate bid to stop herself from crying out.

“Dump that sack of [censored] over the side. The chasmbass will get rid of the evidence for us.”

Two of the security goons forced open the door to her sleep crate and disappeared inside while the third dragged off Andre’s lifeless body and heaved it over the railing and into the churning waters far below. Andromeda slipped away unseen and headed silently for the Neon Core, wiping away the tears as she went. The nearest door to Bayu Plaza wasn’t far, and within five minutes she had stepped through it and darkened her glasses against the garish light that gave Neon City its name.

Every type of store and service imaginable spanned the length of the Core, brilliant neon signs and lights shining down upon everyone who walked the expansive length from Ryujin Tower to the Trade Tower. Even late at night (or early in the morning, as it was now), the walkways were teeming with citizens, tourists, guards, scumbags, and dregs.

Andromeda’s destination was Reliant Medical and thankfully it was only a short distance away. Doc Manning seemed to never sleep and with her life crumbling around her, Andromeda was grateful to see him sitting at his counter.

“Ah, there you are, Dro! Andre warned me you were coming �" c’mon around back and we’ll get you fixed up.” He paused at the signs of grief that had stricken her normally carefree face. “What’s happened? Wait… where is Andre?”

It took everything Andromeda had to not scream in frustration and anger. She settled for kicking helplessly at the front of his counter which only resulted in a stab of pan shooting through her foot. “They [censored] killed him, Joe! Bayu’s security goons iced him without a second thought and threw him over the rails of Ebbside!”

“Bastards,” sighed the Doc. “I keep hoping this city will change some day but I don’t think I’ll ever live to see it. Despite younguns like you fighting back, Bayu’s grip never seems to relent. All the more reason to get you out of here, I guess.” Doc Manning waved her towards the back again and dismounted from his stool. “Go on, I just have to lock up real quick.”

The back room had a small biological modification chair that the doc had somehow procured from one of the Enhance! stores that were peppered throughout the local galaxy. It must have cost a small fortune, but she once again found herself thanking gods she didn’t care about for its existence in the back of the clinic. Doc Manning followed her in a few seconds later and instructed her to take a seat in the chair.

“Okay, so Andre...” Joe trailed off and made a gesture that Andromeda had never seen before. His hand moved across his face in the shape of a ‘T’.

“What was that for?” she asked him.

“The cross? It’s from an old-Earth religion that most have forgotten about. I’ll explain some other time. Anyway… so Andre most have been tipped off pretty early and with a good bit of info. Bayu has your name, financial history, work records, and physiological profile; but not your DNA records. We lucked out there. A few cosmetic changes will get you past the spaceport sniffers.”

“Joe, I can’t pay for any of this,” said Andromeda. “All my accounts are probably seized and I have less than two-hundred credits in my bag.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Dro. You’ve already done so much for the hard working people of this city that your friends are lining up behind me to get you safely out of this place.”

Andromeda sniffled and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue from the box Doc Manning held up to her. She knew it would be a long time until she saw those friends again, and the thought of that hurt more than anything else. Then she laid back in the chair and closed her eyes while the doctor powered up the alteration arms. She knew it would take thirty seconds to a minute for the machine to fully boot, so Andromeda pressed her friend on what would happen next.

“I have another slate from Andre,” he said. “It will transfer enough credits to get you on an outbound freighter, and provide a new identity. But the tricky part will be getting you to the port with perfect timing. We need to have you at the gates just as the ship’s thrusters begin to burn, so that the guards will hopefully rush you through without looking to closely at your records.”

There was lot that could go wrong with that. However, she trusted her friends implicitly and so she closed her eyes again and let the doctor go to work. The procedure was relatively painless, but she did flinch from the occasional needle or sharp prod. Some calibrations to the machine were in order when she returned. If I can return, she thought. Benjamin Bayu had a long memory, and she doubted he would forget about her anytime soon.

Ten minutes elapsed before Doc Manning leaned back on his stool and powered down the alteration arms. He grabbed a mirror from a side table and handed it to Andromeda. The same brown eyes stared back at her, but Joe had completely changed her hairstyle and its color: the long ponytail she had entered the clinic with was gone, and only a small knot was tied up in the back. Instead of fuchsia, her locks were now dyed an incredible opalescent prism of stunning colors, and the strands on the right side of her face fell down past her cheeks while being tucked back tightly on the left side.

She noticed the bare skin of her neck and left cheek and inhaled sharply. “Did you get rid of my tattoos?! Those were really personal to me, Doc!”
“Relax, I just covered them up with some foundation. Keep your hood up a the spaceport or the rain will wash it away and give up the goose. They’ll stick out like a sore thumb. Oh, and leave your piercings here. Those are easily replaceable.”

Andromeda frowned but did as advised. She popped the studs out of her ears and nose, removed the loop from her septum, and slid the barbell out from her nose bridge. Doc Manning collected them all in a small steel pan and then dropped them into a medical waste bin. Andromeda slid out of the modification chair and gave him a hug.

“Thanks for everything, Doc. I’ll be back to repay you some day.”

“I already told you your credit is good, Dro. Just promise me you’ll be careful out there.”

“I’ll try. But you should know better than most that the trouble usually finds me first.”

“That I do!” laughed Doc Manning. “Damn, almost forgot �" lose the glasses, too. I have some lenses for you instead.”

She removed her glasses and chucked them in the bin with her piercings. The good doctor handed her a set of icy blue colored contact lenses and after a couple minutes of struggling, she managed to pop them in to obscure her natural eye color. Another hug for the Doc Manning. Then he tapped a slate to hers and ushered Andromeda out the back door of Reliant Medical. Syndal, her best friend from university and one-time lover waited somberly in the trash ridden alley running behind the shops.

“Time to go, doll,” said her diminutive cohort. “Ship leaves in six minutes.” Syndal was tiny even compared to the slight 1.6 meters Andromeda rose to. The top of her head just barely made it to Andromeda’s nose. She put a hand on the back of Andromeda’s head and pulled her down to a reasonable level, kissing her very briefly on the lips. “For luck,” she explained to Andromeda’s quizzical stare. “Don’t think we’re ever getting back together or anything.”

“Fair enough,” said Andromeda. “Are we taking the main elevator down?”

“Have to. It’s all you have time for. “Let’s go, and try to keep up. Security is swarming the Core for you.”

Andromeda nodded and followed along in Syndal’s speedy wake. It was easy to unobtrusively hang a few steps back and still keep tabs on the impressive length of platinum hair falling past her friend’s hips. It swayed to and fro in the constant gentle breeze flowing through Neon City. The draft was one of many effects of living on massive platform built high above the roiling seas of a water world. A world that Andromeda had never left. Or had ever planned to leave. Those idle thoughts helped keep her features neutral when they stepped back onto the main thoroughfare and snaked their way towards the spaceport elevator.

Neon Security had fallen for the gambit. None of them paid her any mind, despite having her former appearance projected on the inside of their helmet visors. Syndal led her right past squad after squad of the corrupt officers until they reached their destination.

“You’re on your own from here,” said Syndal. “Take the lift down to the port and make a show of rushing, but don’t outright sprint. Play the part of the late departee who is trying to make their flight. The guards down there are a different detachment than the Core goons and generally skew towards being less of an asshole than the ones chasing you up here.”

“Okay, I’ll try. Never was much of an actor but I can do this. I have to do this.”

Syndal slapped her on the ass. “Quit stalling. You’ve got less than two minutes.”

“Right. Bye, Syn. And thank you.”

The elevator doors opened and Andromeda rode the lift down to the docking port. Two guards flanked the it at the bottom but the alterations Doc Manning made to her appearance seemed to have fooled their scanners. She showed them her slate and they told her to get moving else she miss the freighter. Settling for a speedy trot, Andromeda sighed gratefully and flitted down the long catwalk spanning over the ocean below, squeezing her hood tightly to her face. The warm, wind-driven rain splattered against her while she half ran to the ship waiting for its final passenger.

It was an ancient Deimos model that took up most of the landing pad. Bright lights illuminated faded letters above the ramp: The Gryphon. A crew member ushered Andromeda inside with little patience and directed her to a jump seat in the main cabin. Unsure of how the seat worked, her fingers trembled while she tried to strap herself in.

“First time in space, dearie?” A middle-aged woman next to her smiled gently at Andromeda.

“Yeah. I’m scared shitless if I’m being honest.”

“There’s nothing to it.” The kind woman reached over and showed her which buckles went where, and pointed out the safety pouch under the cushion. “Mouth guards in there if you’re worried about biting your tongue off. Once we take off, just keep your mouth closed and you won’t need them.”

Andromeda thanked her, and the woman went back to humming an off-tune key. Voices rang out over the loudspeaker and warning signs began to light up all around them. The entire ship rattled and shook, and the message on the flight console on the wall across from her changed from ‘docked’ to ‘achieving thrust’. Seconds later the engines roared into life and the sudden g’s from massive acceleration pressed Andromeda back into her seat. Unable to move so much as a finger, she closed her eyes and whimpered slightly as the ship gained altitude.

And then the pressure was gone. She opened her eyes and the porthole in the ceiling above revealed the deep black of space, dotted with innumerable points of light blinking back at her from incomprehensible distances. For the second time in as many minutes, her breath had been taken away for very different reasons.

She had done it. She had escaped Neon City and the closing grasp of Benjaim Bayu.

The tears came again anyway. Her life as she knew it was over and she had no idea where things went from here. She didn’t even know where this ship was bound. She was alone among the stars. And then the engines powered down while the grav drive engaged, folded space around the ship, and leapt from the Volii System in a blazing show of cosmic light and energy, carrying Andromeda far way from danger with a dumbfounded expression on her face..

This post has been edited by Kane: Jun 20 2025, 12:59 PM

[Acadian]

Andromeda once again proves that combat is not her forte. Better get used to having a gorgeous partner, Annie. Andreja is way too competent to trade in on an uglier model.

Andromeda’s skills do, however, shine in other areas. First, her empathic talent divines the cowering spacer is not to be trusted - so Andreja can gently decline his offer. Secondly, she computer hacks a way through the remaining station’s defenses.

A new and improved ship! Nice upgrade. No time for more than a couple patty melts though before it’s off to another adventure. This frozen planet reveals some sort of a . . . facility? structure? that just oozes mystery.

[Kane]

Andromeda once again proves that combat is not her forte. Better get used to having a gorgeous partner, Annie. Andreja is way too competent to trade in on an uglier model.

Andromeda’s skills do, however, shine in other areas. First, her empathic talent divines the cowering spacer is not to be trusted - so Andreja can gently decline his offer. Secondly, she computer hacks a way through the remaining station’s defenses.

A new and improved ship! Nice upgrade. No time for more than a couple patty melts though before it’s off to another adventure. This frozen planet reveals some sort of a . . . facility? structure? that just oozes mystery.

It's fun working around her skill set instead of shoehorning her in to a role as a combat savant. She's a city girl who grew up alone behind a computer screen - it's a testament to Constellation's complimentary skills that she's survived this long!

Like many aspects of these quest narratives, I did take some liberties with powering down the base defenses. But it suits her style and is more interesting than writing about further duels with robots and lasers turrets.

The structure in question is referred to as a Temple, and we shall presently see why...

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Fourteen – Atavistic Flux

Mysterious Structure, Tau Ceti III, Tau Ceti System

Nothing in Andromeda’s life could have possibly prepared her for what they found on the other side of that door. Nor Andreja for that matter. A ribbed floor inlaid with disjointed circular carvings spanned out into a wide open room where the walls rose steadily inward to form a perfect hemisphere. Reflected on the curved walls themselves were the stars, dust, and nebulae of the cosmos, luminous and dim, all at the same time. It was utterly captivating.

They stood just inside the vestibule, one step from entering the enormous chamber.

“Wow,” said Andromeda. “I definitely didn’t have this on my bingo card.”

“Wow indeed,” agreed Andreja. “But what is a bingo card?”

“Uh, nevermind. Not important.” Pulling out her scanner again, Andromeda attempted to get a read on whatever they had set foot in, which only added to her bewilderment. “So, apparently there’s breathable atmosphere in here. Somehow. On an airless planet. Because that’s totally normal, right?”

Andreja looked over her shoulder at the readings. The scanner did indeed show a perfectly suitable ratio of nitrogen to oxygen, but she hesitated to remove her helmet all the same.

“What about gravimetric readings?”

“Yeah, those are [censored]. If I’m seeing this right, another step forward and we’ll be in a zero g environment.”

“Hm. In that case, I will follow your lead, Annie.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Andromeda took a deep breath. And then she took a single step. The concept of gravity as she knew it vanished instantaneously, and she began floating upwards towards the center of the room. Using her boostpack to maneuver, she puttered about the vast chamber looking for anything out of the ordinary while Andreja did just the same. This went on for several minutes with little result. About to call it quits, Andromeda cut her thrust to descend when she noticed a faint flickering roughly fifteen meters to her left. She stared intently at it to make sure it wasn’t just a trick of the mind, or a particularly bright star spot on the chamber wall.

“Hey, do you see that, Andreja?” She raised a finger and pointed in the general direction of the distortion. “Some sort of weird light?”

“I see nothing,” said Andreja, joining her side. “Only the stars on the wall.”

“Huh. Weird.”

There was something about it Andromeda couldn’t shake. She drifted slowly towards the silhouette, eyes widening as it coalesced into an array of golden light the closer she came to it. Halting her advance, she checked with Andreja again.

“See it now?”

“There is nothing there, Andromeda. Are you feeling okay?”

How can she not see this? Wondered Andromeda. She reached a tentative hand out and when her gloved extremity passed through the light it grew to a blinding flash and vanished from sight.

“Okay, there is no way you didn’t see that!”

“Where did that flash come from?” said Andreja. “Is that the light you were talking about?”

Andromeda swiveled about to see if anything else had changed when she saw it – another pocket of light on the far side, closer to the ground. “Yeah, and there’s another one over there now. A brighter one.”

She flew towards it in the weightless environment until passing bodily through the light. It burned brightly and then fizzled out once more, but they barely noticed this time. What really caught their attention were the circular bands of metal that lifted free from the center of the floor and began to spin in a manner that closely resembled the Artifacts floating above the display table back at The Lodge.

“Andromeda…”

“Oh, I see it. And I think you and I are under-qualified to be exploring this. Sarah and Noel would be freaking out right about now.”

“Did the light you saw trigger it? Are there more?”

Andromeda surveyed the chamber and saw a third one across the way from where she bobbed up and down. “Over there.”

“I think you should go to it again,” said Andreja. “But wait until I have my scanner ready.”

“You really think that’s a good idea?”

“We must find out what all of this means, Annie.”

“Frankly, I’d rather just go back to my house. But, you’re the boss, Andreja.”

She fired up her boostpack thrusters and coasted over the spinning discs at the chamber’s core while Andreja readied herself. At her partner’s signal, Andromeda soared through the third collection of warm golden light. It flashed and vanished, just how the others had, and a fourth coalesced close at hand. She reached for it and this time a curious sensation passed through her. But before she could think about it, Andreja called out to her.

“Andromeda! The rings!”

Andromeda looked towards the center and the sight mesmerized her. The metal rings that had lifted from the floor after she touched the second light now spun so fast they were barely discernible from one another, and the air around them trilled in an ever-growing cascade of sound that tore through the room, echoing off of the starry walls.

The fifth light awaited her just above the oscillating bands. It seemed to call to her. Andromeda’s boostpack gave a final burst and she coasted gently into it. The spinning rings became a blur that emanated a rising cacophony of noise that might have resembled musical notes in another universe. And then they stopped. A single round ring filled with more golden light rested upright and it pulled in everything around it like moths unto a flame. Including the young woman floating just above.

“Oh, [censored]! Andreja – help me!” Andromeda began to panic. Try as she might, her struggles against the sudden encroachment of gravity were in vain. Even her boostpack did nothing to mitigate the draw. “HELP! ANDREJA, I CAN’T BREAK FREE OF IT!”

But neither could Andreja move in to help her. Whatever underlying force drew Andromeda further into the ring inversely kept her friend at bay, powerless to help. “Annie! Try the overdrive button! Whatever is doing this will not let me approach!”

She thumbed the button labeled ‘MAX’ and the boostpack overdrive fizzled out. Andromeda Renault could do nothing to resist. The collapsing well of gravity drew her into the utmost center of the ring, and her entire existence changed forever. A mysterious cosmic energy flowed around her and the ring in a shimmering haze of infinite specks in a vibrant array of color until they too were pulled inward.

Every molecule in Andromeda’s body cried out in pain as if a white-hot lance were pressed simultaneously into every aspect of her being. Her tortuous screams drowned out even the high pitch droning of the ring while Andreja could only watch in abject horror as the light show finally ended and her friend fell to the ground where she continued to writhe in pain. No further noise escaped her lips, but Andromeda’s entire body contracted in violent spasms until her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell unconscious.

* * *

Villa Renault, Nesoi, Olympus System

Noel hung a new bag of fluids on the IV pole stationed next to the infirmary bed. She flicked the line twice to make sure the liquid flowed unimpeded, and then she started re-calibrating the bio monitor that checked her patient’s vitals three times a minute. Everything read nominal; just as it had for the last six days. Pulse ox at normal levels; heart rate strong. But the EEG scans showed only the barest hint of activity, which worried her the most. Noel often stared at the screen hoping something would change, only to end up more and more worried.

She wasn’t the only one. Andreja remained a permanent fixture at the bedside, double and triple-checking everything that Noel did in case something – anything – may have been missed. Had it been anyone else, this might have thoroughly annoyed her, but Noel recognized the deep guilt lining Andreja’s features. Though no one in Constellation blamed her for what happened, she insisted on shouldering that burden all on her own.

The door to the master bedroom opened, and Sarah entered pushing a small utility cart loaded with supper for the three of them.

“Any change?” she asked for at least the nth time that day.

“None,” replied Noel.

“Are the deep tissue scans consistent?”

“They are. Whatever that thing did to her is permanent. Andromeda’s cellular structure has been fundamentally altered at a level that I can’t even begin to comprehend. There’s no telling what will happen when she wakes up, and she’s probably the most unique human being in the galaxy now.”

Sarah glanced at the monitors and rested a gentle hand on the inert shoulder of Andromeda. Her pale skin felt cold to the touch, despite her body temperature showing a perfect ninety-eight point six degrees fahrenheit.

“She’ll pull through this,” said Sarah, more to herself. “I know she will. Dro is tougher than any of us, even if she doesn’t see it herself.” Sarah pivoted back towards the cart and picked up a platter for Andreja. “Here you go, dear. Vladimir sent some stroganoff in today’s supply run. Eat up.”

“Perhaps later.”

“Andreja, you must keep your strength up. Starving yourself will not pull Andromeda free from this coma. I want you to eat, and then I’d like you to get some fresh air. I will not order you to do those things, but I’m not against it entirely.”

The monitor beeped in the same noncommittal way it had been beeping for nearly week while Andreja studied it momentarily. Her stomach protested loudly and she turned away with a sigh to accept her meal.

“Very well. I will eat outside by the pool. If her condition changes, I expect one of you to come and tell me.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” said Sarah. “Actually, I think I’ll join you. Noel? You know the drill.”

“I’ll come if something changes,” she promised.

Sarah grabbed a sandwich off the cart and followed Andreja outside into the evening sun of Nesoi. Orange rays of light cascaded brilliantly over the distance mountains painting the illusion of a blazing inferno. She’d only been on Nesoi since shortly after the grim communique from Andreja arrived at The Lodge, but those few days were all Sarah needed to understand why Andromeda had purchased this home and taken a vacation.

This world was beautiful. Wonderfully temperate and teeming with wildlife. Peaceful and withdrawn, yet still near to densely populated star systems. A little slice of paradise for one of the most deserved people Sarah ever had the pleasure of meeting.

“I can see why you had to tear her away from this place, Andreja. A part of me wishes I had the common sense to purchase something like this for myself when I was younger.”

Chewing stoically on her food, Andreja kept silent.

“Look, you mustn’t be so hard yourself for what happened back there. Nobody could have predicted something so… fantastical would’ve occurred. No one blames you for this, Andreja.”

“Perhaps they should.”

“Out of the question.”

“Then you should reconsider the question, Sarah. Andromeda felt uneasy about that place the entire time we were there and before ever set foot inside. Her instincts were correct, and I asked her to ignore them for the sake of exploration and discovery. I am a [censored] friend.”

“That’s enough of that,” said Sarah, firmly. “I know that Andromeda thinks very highly of you and you’d do well to remember that. Any one of us in Constellation would have encouraged further examination of that place – it’s who we are and what we do. When she pulls through this, Dro will need you more than ever, Andreja. And if you think she’ll put any of the blame at your feet than I fear you’ve misjudged her entirely.”

* * *

Beep...beep...beep…

Wispy thoughts threaded themselves elusively throughout her mind. Images of stars, nebulae, planets, moons, rocks, people, flora, fauna – everything and anything that filled the endless expanse of the cosmos buffeting about the exhausted cerebral cortex of a comatose woman who had touched infinity.

Beep...beep...beep…

A metallic clatter echoed in the void. Burbling liquids dripped and flowed through stones relentlessly smoothed flat over distance and time by the unceasing erosion of the natural order. Low vibrations nearly imperceptible to the human ear minutely rattled through a tepid mug of tea casting ripples across the surface like a rock tossed into a lake once smoother than a sheet of glass. The threads of a cotton blouse rubbed against one another, the friction alone enough to burn the sky.

Beep...beep...beep…

And that constant beeping. That constant, goddamn infernal beeping.

Beep...beep...beep…

Actually, the beeping sounded familiar.

Beep…beep...beep…

Where had she heard that before?

Andromeda eye’s opened slowly, blinking away the grogginess of an extended slumber. Noel stood next to a monitor, pressing every button beneath the display, save for the one her patient yearned for her to press the most. It was right there… so tantalizingly withing reach… but her arms felt like they’d been disconnected and placed next to her on the bed. She couldn’t lift them.

Maybe her voice would fare better. She tried for a whimper and the timid noise offered hope, if barely audible. But the effort sapped what little strength she had, and Andromeda drifted back off into sleep.

* * *

This time, darkness had pervaded the world when Andromeda opened her eyes again. The monitor continued to beep away maddeningly, the dim glow of green light from the display illuminating the illusory color of her face in the night. Gentle snoring came from somewhere nearby, the slumberous tenor of rest escaping the nose of whom Andromeda assumed must be Noel. She felt stronger than before, and managed to turn her neck the other way until her gaze fell upon the actual source of the snoring: Andreja.

A content peace stole her features that Andromeda didn’t recognize. She’d never seen a mask of serenity adorning the capable woman with a mysterious past like the one she saw now. It suited her. There was no dark brooding, or deep worry present. Andreja deserved to know that kind of inner peace all the time and Andromeda longed to help her achieve it. When she could get up again that is.

Andromeda’s continued staring (admiring, really) seemed to have stirred up something primal in Andreja’s psyche, for her own eyes snapped open alertly and locked in with Andromeda’s.

“Annie! You are awake! Please do not move, I need to fetch Noel and Sarah!”

“Wait,” muttered Andromeda, uselessly.

Too late. Andreja hurried out of the room and left her with that godawful and incessant beeping sound. But she was only gone for a matter seconds before returning with the other ladies of Constellation in tow. They began fussing over Andromeda; asking far too many questions without waiting for answers. Or listening at all.

Finally, Andromeda had had enough: “Will all of you shut up!” she managed to eke out. They did. Thankfully. “Please shut off that stupid [censored] beeping sound. It’s driving me up the wall.”

“There she is,” giggled Noel. “It’s nice to have you back, Dro.”

“We’ve been worried sick,” said Sarah. “You’ve been in a coma for nearly a week! How are you feeling?”

“Like [censored].” Andromeda felt her eyes drooping again and struggled to keep them open. “I need to sleep.”

“We’ll leave you alone,” said Noel. “Get as much rest as you’d like. Oh, and hang on a sec…” She pressed the mute button on the monitor and the ensuing silence rivaled the most wondrous things Andromeda had ever heard. “That should help. C’mon you two – the patient needs to rest.”

“Hold on,” breathed Andromeda, barely awake. “Andreja… please stay with me.”

She drifted off again into a deep slumber, completely dead to the world.

“Go on,” whispered Andreja. “I will be fine.”

“Okay, just be sure to get some sleep yourself,” said Sarah, “Oh, Andreja? I told you so...”