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

[Kane]

Can't give up all of the goose at once! Though more answers are on the way...

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Fifteen – Hard Feelings

Villa Renault, Nesoi, Olympic System





Morning came. And then afternoon soon followed. The decorative clock in Andromeda’s sitting room chimed twice and the musical bonging sound it made was enough to finally rouse its owner from bed. Sitting up in the infirmary bed Constellation had wheeled her into her bedroom on, Andromeda rubbed at her dry eyes and yawned. The chair beside her sat empty even though she vaguely remembered Andreja occupying it the last time she woke up.

The monitor caught her attention next. The readout indicated her vitals were all within normal ranges, so she pulled the IV from the pic line in her wrist but left the urine catheter alone. Pulling that out by herself didn’t seem like a good idea. A few cursory stretches later Andromeda was brave enough to attempt standing up, which she even managed to do without falling over.

A further few tentative steps convinced her that the kitchen wasn’t too far away, which was good, seeing as how loudly her stomach protested the lack of anything other than acid in it.

When she shuffled into the kitchen, her ears were immediately met with an audial assault.

“Goodness, Dro – what the hell are you doing out of bed!” exclaimed Sarah and Noel at the same time.

“Nice to see you ladies, too. Hey, where’s -”

“Annie!” came Andreja’s voice from the patio doorway. “I am pleased to see on your feet. Are you comfortable? Should you sit down?”

“I’m fine. Well, no, actually I’m not, but we can get into that later. Where’s lunch?”

“Sit,” insisted Andreja. “I will make you something.”

Andreja bustled about the kitchen while Andromeda took a seat at the table with Sarah and Noel, who continued to watch her every move as if she might suddenly burst into flames, or have a second head sprout from her neck.

“Please stop staring at me you two.”

“Sorry,” said Noel. “It’s just that, um, your body went through so much. Like, so much, Dro.”

“Oh? I wasn’t aware. Either of you have any painkillers? My head is [censored] pounding.”

“Another reason why you should still be in bed!” chided Sarah.

“I slept for what? Seven days? Eight? I think I’ll pass.”

Something with an enticing aroma began to sizzle in a skillet. Andreja gave it a stir before pouring fresh coffee into a mug and setting it on the table in front of the patient. Andromeda thanked her profusely and took a cautious sip of the piping hot beverage. She smacked her lips loudly and savored the taste with her eyes closed.

“Mmmm. Wha’cha cooking in there?”

“Breakfast,” said Andreja. “You will need a lot of protein to regain your strength.”

“Smells amazing already.” Andromeda took another sip of coffee and then set her sights on Noel and Sarah. “Just ask, before you explode.”

Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. The anticipation was becoming to much, and she had far too many questions and concerns to sit quietly while Andromeda made small talk as if it were just another Tuesday.

“First off; do you feel any different, Dro?”

“You have no idea.”

“Really?” asked Noel. “Can you elaborate on that? Because we ran every conceivable test on you that we could and they all came back the same: your DNA has been radically altered.”

“I know.”

“Y-you know?” stammered Sarah. “And that doesn’t bother you? Something so extreme that it borders on the impossible happened and all you can say is ‘I know’?”

Andromeda shrugged. “I don’t know what you want from me, Sarah.”

“What I want,” said Sarah, “is for you to help us understand it. We’ve all seen the test results but you’re the only one who can tell us how it’s affected you!”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Androm -” Sarah started to protest.

“Sarah, let’s drop it for now,” said Noel. She placed a hand on Sarah’s shoulder before continuing. “She needs time.”

Andromeda sipped a little more from her coffee mug and contemplated her existence. She knew beyond doubt just how different she’d become compared to the friends she sat in her kitchen with. Whatever mysterious force did what it did what it did to her in the Temple – for that’s now what she knew it was – on Tau Ceti III made it plainly obvious in her mind. And she had no clue on where to even begin trying to explain it.

With immaculate timing, Andreja offered a perfect distraction by setting down plate topped with the biggest omelet Andromeda had ever seen.

“Four eggs, peppers, onion, bacon, sausage, and cheese. Eat up, Annie.”

“There’s no way I’m eating all of this. You know that, right?”

“We shall see,” smiled Andreja.

Noel’s eyes darted back and forth between the two of them. “Alright, I’ve got a different question…”

“Lay it on me,” Andromeda mumbled around a mouthful of food.

“Ugh. Swallow first next time,” said Noel. Andromeda gestured her on by oscillating her fork while she chewed away. “How come Andreja gets to call you ‘Annie’ and no one else does?”

“Do you think that’s an argument I’m going to win with her?”

“Well, I guess not. No offense, Andreja, but you can be very stubborn sometimes.”

“No apologies are necessary, Noel. I am comfortable with who I am.”

Sarah, Noel, and Andreja continued to chat and gossip while Andromeda ate voraciously. But as her stomach filled up and the omelet dwindled on her plate, she felt her eyes start to droop again. Once she’d eaten her fill, Andromeda rested an elbow on the table and tried her damnedest to finish her coffee and chime in on the conversations around her. It didn’t last, and she dozed off within moments resulting in her forehead thunking onto the tabletop.

* * *

Morning came again, just as it ought to, and this time Andromeda awoke shortly after sunrise. Noel was futzing with her IVs again and after a short argument with her patient, she agreed to remove the catheter so that Andromeda could go take a shower. The blissful shower attached to her master bedroom was the first thing she’d torn apart after moving in, and it no longer had a built-in timer like the one at The Lodge that frustratingly turned itself off during her steaming soaks. Her stiff muscles felt amazingly better after a solid thirty minutes had passed, most of which she spent sitting on the floor with her legs curled in tight to her chest.

They’re gonna think I’m a freak, she thought to herself. Like the worst kind of mad scientist experiment.

Andromeda had slept fitfully, her tired mind full of awful dreams and worrisome thoughts such as those. She owed her friends, Andreja especially, an explanation but had no idea where to start. Or how to find the courage in the face of fear. The images of delight and relief on Andreja’s face when she saw Andromeda shimmy into the kitchen yesterday floated to the front of her mind, and it strengthened her resolve ever so slightly.

She deserves to hear it first.

Finally stepping out of the bathroom, Andromeda tossed aside the gown Noel left out for her and instead put on a white camisole and a pair of stretchy workout pants. No reason to not be comfortable in her own house after all.

When she entered the kitchen again it was not to eat.

“Andreja?”

“Yes?”

“Can we take a walk?”

“Of course we can.”

She got up and poured her tea into an empty TerraBrew cup and followed Andromeda outside to the patio. Andreja initially had some concerns about going too far from the house, but her companion appeared to be getting on just fine while they descended the steps towards the landing area and lost themselves among the trees. Five minutes into their silent stroll, Andromeda stopped in a clearing and took a seat in the dirt.

“This is far enough,” she panted. “And it may have been too far. You might need to help me back.”

“Just rest for a while, Annie. There is no hurry to get back.”

Andreja sat down across from her and waited patiently. If Andromeda had to put a finger on what she appreciated the most about Andreja, it would be that sage patience she always seemed to carry with her, and how it perfectly complimented her own impulsiveness.

But here they sat now, alone and away from the fretters. And, thankfully, Andreja saved her from furthering the awkward silence induced by Andromeda’s rising self-doubt.

“We have not known each other for very long, Annie, but this reserved version of yourself that you are presenting does not suit you. I know you have much to say, so please do so before you implode.” She leaned forward and grabbed Andromeda’s hands in her own, squeezing them gently. “No matter what you say, I would never think less of you.”

Tears sprang to the corner of Andromeda’s eyes. “I, um. Andreja, that’s… Um. Look, can I hug you? Please?”

“Annie, you are my friend. This is the one of those times where you do not have to ask.”

The tears coursed down her cheeks and dampened the soft fabric draped over Andreja’s toned shoulders. They stayed like that, together, for a long time while Andromeda cried out a lot of pent up emotions over the entire ordeal. It was the first time Andreja had ever found herself in such a situation and she did her best to comfort the person she realized was growing to be someone much more than a friend. Andreja felt in those moments that she would have stayed there to comfort Andromeda forever and a day, if necessary.

Though that amount of time ended up not being needed on this occasion.

Andromeda pulled back and sat up straight. After wiping her eyes, she gently placed a hand on Andreja’s cheek.

“Thank you for being here. And thank you for worrying about my well-being. It felt like Sarah only cared about what changed and not how it made me feel. Noel, too, but to a lesser degree.”

“They mean well,” said Andreja. “Though I do think they sometimes get too wrapped up in their theories. But they also are not wrong, Annie. You do need to tell us what has happened to you.”

“I know, I know,” said Andromeda. “It’s just that… I-I don’t even know where to begin.”

It was the honest truth. She had no idea how to articulate what being pulled into those accursed rings meant and how everything had changed. How to describe what she saw; what she felt. And, in the end, the thing Andromeda remembered the most was the pain. The agony.

Pushing those thoughts aside, she tried anyway. “Imagine… imagine your mind being everywhere. All at once. And maybe… I don’t know… everywhen, too? Is that a word. If not, it sure as [censored] should be.” She paused for a second with a far away look in her eyes. “Imagine touching all of reality in an instant, and having it touch you back. Having it invade your mind, your spirit, and alter what you are irrevocably. Imagine all that and being powerless to resist.”

“I do not wish to,” shuddered Andreja. “No one should have to experience such horrible things. You do not have to say anymore on the matter of you do not want to.”

“It’s fine,” shrugged Andromeda. “Gonna have to tell Sarah and Noel eventually, or they’ll never leave.”

“Hah, very true,” chuckled Andreja. “Would you like to stay here a while longer?”

“No, we can go back. I’m starving. One more thing before we do go…”

“Yes?”

“I need to show you what that place did to me, not just how it felt.” Andromeda got shakily to her feet with Andreja and steadied herself with a few deep breaths. “Sorry. Still get winded easily. Gimme a sec.”

She moved a few feet away from Andreja and turned until she was facing the trees and undergrowth at the edge of the small clearing. Andromeda closed her eyes and focused on the knowledge she’d been given by the Temple. The power. She imagined the purity of gravity in all its natural power to bring order in chaos. And then she raised her hands in a manner that one would use to push away an impeding object and she focused on the inverse effect of that base force of nature.

Andreja could only watch in captivated amazement at the expulsion of energy that erupted from seemingly nowhere and uprooted several trees with the unrelenting force of it.

“Andromeda… How…”

“I don’t have a [censored] clue. But from the moment I woke up, I knew exactly how to do it.” She swayed on her feet and her eyes began to lose focus from the effort. “Whoa. Maybe should’ve waited until I regained some more strength.”

Andromeda sank down to one knee as Andreja rushed to her side and steadied her. “Can you make it back? Should I call Sarah and Noel to come help.”

“Um. Yeah.”

Exhaustion won out again and Andromeda collapsed into her friend’s arms.

* * *

She woke up on the couch this time, and the clock told her that only three hours had passed, which was quite the improvement. Voices drifted in from outside and when she stained her ears to listen to what sounded like an argument. Andromeda sat up and was about to see what was going on when she noticed the glass of water and the medpack on her coffee table.

At least someone is listening to me, she thought as she gulped the water down and used the medpack to dull the throbbing pain in her head.

Getting to her feet felt far easier this time, and she nearly effortlessly made her way outside to the pool deck. Sarah, Noel, and Andreja were standing around ten meters away, and seemed to be fiercely debating something.

“Hey, what’s going on you three?”

“Dro!” said Sarah. “How are you feeling? Andreja told us what happened! And what the two of you spoke about!”

At this point, Noel stepped away from the others and hugged Andromeda. “I’m sorry if we came off as callous earlier, Dro. You’re health is absolutely more important than anything else.”

“I apologize, too, Andromeda,” Sarah added. “But in light of recent events I’m afraid I must insist that you return to The Lodge with us as soon as possible. There is much to talk about. The implications alone...”

Andromeda had been dreading that. She knew it was coming eventually after all that transpired since she and Andreja set out for the Tau Ceti system, and she’d been rehearsing exactly how this conversation needed to go ever since she regained consciousness. Nothing about it was going to be easy, and she steeled herself for a drawn out discussion on whether or not she was being selfish. She hoped beyond reason that Andreja would understand, even if the others did not.

“Sarah, I’m not going back,” Andromeda stated firmly. “I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t!” exclaimed Sarah. “Dro, after all that’s happened, you have to come back so that we can figure this all out!”

“No. I’m done. Consider this my resignation. I’m tired of being shot at and stabbed; tired of being attacked by nutjobs in spaceships; and I’m tired of not being in control of my own fate. I didn’t ask for any of this. Picking up that stupid [censored] hunk of metal on Vectera was the worst decision I ever made. I’m going to live my life the way I want to from now on and the Universe can go [censored] itself. And if you can’t understand my perspective on this, then I think it’s time for you to leave.”

Sarah’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times while she tried articulate her thoughts. In the end, much to Andromeda’s chagrin, she let her disappointment win out. “I expected more from you, Ms. Renault.” Without another word, she left the pool deck and headed back down to the Frontier.

Andromeda wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. Noel had an odd look on her face. Andreja’s was unreadable. Their combined silence unnerved her. “I’m sorry. But I can’t.”

“It’s alright, hon,” sighed Noel. “None of us can hope to understand what you’re going through right now. I wish it didn’t have to be this way, but it is your life. It should be in your hands.” She hugged Andromeda again, more tightly this time. “Take care of yourself, Dro. And keep in touch – no reason we have to be strangers.”

“Thanks, Noel. And I will.”

Noel followed Sarah down to the ship, leaving Andromeda alone with the one person she hoped would empathize with her beyond all others. Andreja still hadn’t spoken, but she could feel the roiling emotions battling within. She didn’t understand – not completely, anyway – but she did respect Andromeda’s resolve on the matter. And her need for independence.

“I did not expect this of you, Andromeda. You should go inside and rest.”

Andreja left her side and headed down to the ship, leaving a confused and despondent young woman in her wake.

Completely crushed by how things ended, Andromeda sat down in the nearest chair and sobbed while the roar of engine thrusters drowned out everything else as the Frontier lifted itself above the trees and soared up through the atmosphere and lost itself to the vast distances of space.