Her head started hurting. At first, she thought it was due to the hyperspace jump and it will pass soon. She admired as the reality formed around her again, when leaving the Jump Hole. After a few seconds, she started up her Sabre's cruise engines and moved on, through the Crow Nebula in Sigma-13. The headache still remained in the back of her head, but it was bearable. Course was set for Newport Station and the autopilot started turning the ship. She could not make out anything in the dense, blue cloud, so she let the computer carry her fighter, while she was looking for something to remedy her headache.
Where is it...? She looked around. A small, plastic capsule with orange powder inside. Cardamine. It should be here somewhere. Her head was getting heavier as she frantically looked for the container. She glimpsed at the radar. Faster, faster... She started looking through her pockets. There! She opened the capsule and moved it closer to her nose. Warning. Volatile gases detected.
An explosion. The ship shook, the capsule fell and the Cardamine spilled all over her. She cursed and desperately tried to retrieve the orange powder. She got a bit that could carry her for a few more minutes. Another look at the screen. The ship was closer and closer to the station.
She reached out to the console and sent a docking request. The autopilot would carry her to the station. Now, it was not in her hands anymore. The headache got unbearable. The pain started attacking in slow, regular, strong pulses. She started losing consciousness. She felt her body not responding anymore. In a last, desperate grip to reality she tried to think about her parents on Malta. She couldn't.
She woke up. Where was she? What happened? How much time had passed? So many questions.
She could not recall her name. She could not recall her past. She could not recall a word. Nothing. The only thing that remained in her mind was the moment of jumping into a some kind of blue nebula. And reality forming around her. It was beautiful and it was the only memory she had.
She opened her eyes. The first came the sight. She was in a dimly lit room with metal ceiling. Walls and floor also were made of the same iron-like substance, but without any trace of rust. She laid on a mat, covered with a blanket, but without any memory who might have laid her down here and helped her. Then, she started hearing sounds. In complete silence she heard short and regular metal-to-metal hits. And last came the smell. Pleasant, yet a bit pungent smell of ground herbs.
She turned her head to see the source of the noise. An older man crouched by an orange plant, picking parts of it and mashing them in a metal grinder. When he saw the girl wake up he moved closely to her.
"Lá! Faiea cuiveuth. Cairuthne hen aep saess enquiée. Ess'ath mil hi?"
She could only look blindly at the man, with absolutely no idea what he was saying. He looked friendly and with no intention to hurt her, so she relaxed. She just shrugged and shook her had.
"Etta?" His expression became more clouded as he pointed towards his head and shook. "Ist'ath munna? Ist'ath athné eneth?"
The girl realised he was talking about the state of her mind. She shook her head again. The man sighed.
"Enquett'ath," he said, then pointed at himself. "Ea."
She hesitated for a moment, but realised that the man was asking her to repeat. She pointed at herself as well. "Ea..."
"Ea essea Coivilissé," he introduced himself. "Ath?"
"Ea... ess-- essea..." She did not know her name. The man realised that.
"Ath n'istath athné eneth, etta? Hmmm," he pondered for a moment. "Ath essath... Nica... Nicolette. Enquett'ath. 'Ea essea Nicolette'."
She was given a new name. That was not difficult to figure out. And she liked it. It was beautiful. She didn't know where she was from, she didn't know who she was, it didn't matter. Her new life started here. She hesitated for a moment and smiled.
