The Afterparty

[Nightfall]

Bernard was aware of her thoughts, of her angelic eyes not missing a single detail, he felt awkward. He felt Mariella, The Angel, retreating...

Nightfall saw numerous faces, countless places among the stars long dissapeared and stars not yet born. He felt again the pain of an Angel's Kiss and the emptyness she left behind. It became clear he had to let go...

"... her eyes!" he had a thought that was not completely his own.
"I was lost in the depth of your eyes, my Lady" he replied to the girl's question.

They were standing in the light rain which just started. Both of them silent. Looking at each other decided not to give up. A battle of sharp glances that could eclipse the legendary skirmishes between the Corsairs and the Hessians in Omega-5, leaving the same number of victims.

The rain became heavier. A bell could be heard in the distance...



**end of chapter**

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If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God? - from 'Nightfall' by I. Asimov
The Outcasts consider Siniestre Nube a sacred place for several reasons. Early explorers discovered a jumphole within the depths of the cloud that leads to a strange world of ringed stars and strange craft. All ships in the burrial ground are placed facing that hole to honor the Alien Spirits. - An Outcast rumor