Out of bounds

[Sombs]

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Day 50 - Location unknown II

Ezrael opened his eyes. His back hurt, and he realized why as he recognized where he was. It was weird to have Sherry hugging him. They were still at the observation deck, still on the metal grid floor. At some point he must have fallen asleep. How awkward. He looked down at himself. Sherry had her head at his chest, her arms were slung around his neck. Her eyes were open. "Apahanta, please tell me what time it is according to your clock."

"It is 02:04 AM, Captain," the synthethic female voice returned. Ezrael placed his head back on the floor. It was certainly uncomfortable to lay like this. With her.

"I shouldn't have hurt you, I am sorry," Ezrael said quietly, placing a hand on her back, stroking her slightly.

"My own fault," Sherry returned in a neutral manner. "I am fine, though."

The blue light from outside was calming. At least in this moment. All anger was gone, Now there was only regret. They remained like this for a few moments until Ezrael broke the silence again. "You should go to bed."

"No," she said. It was just as uncomfortable to lay there with him as for him. The observation deck was not made for people to lay on the ground. "When you accused me of all those things, I saw no way to dismiss your claims. Your logic is flawed at some points, but I had no idea how to react when you were mad at me." She looked to the side, having her cheek pressed against his chest. "I could point out the flaws now. But I think your trust in me is damaged, knowing you know about all the actions I did behind your back. Spying on Maren. Spying on the crew. Killing Lindsay, our own counselor. I deserve more pain than what you caused to me moments ago."

Able to swallow some stressed noises as she build up her body, sitting down on Ezrael's lap while he was still laying on the floor, she leaned slightly forward, looking down at his eyes. "I am loyal to you, Ezrael. Not because of fear for the consequences. That is not loyalty, that would be tyranny. You're not a tyrant. I am loyal to you because you are a good man. Because you helped me get rid of the Core. You helped us getting ignored by the Nomads. You showed me places I would never even have dreamed about visiting. I am loyal to you because you are treating your crew well. You accepted the crew with all their flaws. So did we accept our captain."

She bent over further, one hand on his torso to support her position, the other hand cupping his cheek. It irked her how he looked at her. His expression was hard to read. He merely looked up at her, then at her hand as it approached his cheek. "I wish there was a way to convince you. To prove it. Really."

"Yes, that would be good."

Disappointed, she averted her eyes for a moment. There was nothing she was able to do. Resigning, she merely lowered her upper body on his and placed her head next to his, facing him. Laying with him like that for another few moments, she remembered the initial reason she wanted to see him. "We will run out of energy soon."

"I know. And Leon prepared the cloaking device. We will leave this system today."

That came as a surprise, Sherry thought. He was hesitant to approach the gate, but now he was clear about it. "What changed your mind?"

"We can survive this or die trying," Ezrael explained, thinking it was obvious they were out of options. The only valuable resources were located on those moons, and they didn't have the equipment to reach their surfaces, neither with the Apahanta nor with the Rover. "Get some sleep, in your room. At 1200 we will start moving."

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Uncharted System Stories: 18 | 32 | 34 | 37 | 38 | 85

Templates: Character | Transmissions

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