Page 40 (1/2)

“For you, odfather would skin me alive” He stares at the Obsidian ships on the sensors “She used your razor Did she have a scar?”

If I say yes, he won’t go to S-1392 He’ll try to fight

“No No scar,” I say Then I feel the guilt building My brain has always been faster than my conscience

Our ship shudders again, harder this tie to our starboard thrusters Cassius winces with each shudder of the hull It wounds him to see the Archimedes bleed

“Slag it” He grips Pytha’s shoulder “Pytha, set course for asteroid S-1392 Increase engine output to fifteen percent over the redline I don’t care if they ether” In her sync, she does not respond, but the ship does I sit down as the Archiravity pulls on my body as the compensators strain at the sudden acceleration and the Archimedes races for the asteroid The Obsidians fall behind our sudden acceleration, but slowly they begin to match

The die is cast

While Cassius prepares the ship for potential boarders by outfitting the rescued creeapons, I return to the medbay to check on the Gold to see if I can draw any more information from her She’s unconcious still I watch her for amore protective than I should fo

r a stranger Tenderly, I cut the rest of her clothing away and begin to clean the oil from her skin with alcohol scrubs I drape a medical blanket over her to protect her decency When I look up, her eyes are open and see inuntoward But her gaze is softer now than at our firstLess animalistic She looks at the razor on my hip

“We’re bound for the asteroid,” I say gently “You said there was help there What sort of help?” She tries to speak, but her words are too weak to co at the new layer of resFlesh I used to cover her scar “Save your strength” I set a hand on her shoulder “I should check your wound May I?”

She makes a small nod with her head I pull the blanket to the side and exary flesh My cauterization was sloppy I find a fresh bandage inside the cabinet and return to her wound She flinches as I apply disinfectant cream To soothe her, I recite one of my favorite verses from my mother’s library

“As froloom a silver dove

upsoars, and darts into the Eastern light,

On pinions that naught ht,

So fled thy soul into the realms above,

Regions of peace and everlasting love…”