Uncharted System 38

[Sombs]

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February 14nd, 830 A.S. - Uncharted System 37

A few moments before

Sleeplessness was rarely an issue for Ezrael. Usually, the daily exhaustion from the chores of a Captain or the nightly company would ensure that hormones would make him drowsy. This night, however, he was alone in his quarters. Alone with his thought. For almost an entire year they were hiding in this nebula now, and while it provided everything they needed - namely water and the occasional mineral-rich asteroid, as well as protection from the anomaly that caused everyone on the ship to feel depressed and hallucinations the closer they get to one of the planets - it was simply just a nebula. A thick cloud, preventing them from seeing anything cool. There was no way out of this system, except one he tried not to take. It was risky, and there was no need to take the risk. Or was there?

He lay on his wide bed, a pillow under his head, black harem pants covering his lower body and legs, one hand on his abs, the other under his pillow. There was minimal lighting in his quarters, merely a blue light tube ranging from one side of the bed to the other, illuminating the floor from under the bed. This close to the front of the Apahanta, the sound of the engine rumbling was a bit quieter than the sound of the ventilation system blowing warm air into the room. This would be the third Valentine's Day without Maren. It wasn't something that bothered him, usually. It was probably just the time of the night where one's brain just wouldn't stop second guessing everything that can't be changed anymore. There was no way he would ever return to Sirius. It was something he insisted on. Under no circumstances did he want to return. It was not necessary. They would be able to handle anything on their own. They did so for three years now.

And why, even. Maren was nothing but trouble. An agent of the Wild. She had an incubus inside her, and sooner or later, she would have lost her patience and infected him. Certainly! Most likely. Maybe. He had no idea why she never did it. She had so many opportunities. Just as many as he had to get rid of her, or her incubus Valery. Was being ignored by the Nomads really worth living with one at his side? In a way, he had allowed her to use him as protection. Maybe he was an accessory to cause harm to someone, maybe to allow her to infect someone. He didn't know. For all he knew, when she was at his side, she played along the rules they both established, knowing that if either of them broke them, the other would likely kill them. It was a dance that lasted for many years. A bittersweet dance, with many good and many bad memories.

All these memories kept dancing around in his thoughts. All the nice moments with her. The moment she admitted to be an agent of the Wild, and how he forgave her and accepted her as she was. He remembered her referring to him as a merciful knight for that. As someone able to move between hell and heaven without picking a side. Just like the Apahanta remained independent from all factions, he never picked a side between mankind and Nomads. Like an observer, like an untamable force of nature. In a way, that was all he was about. Never slowing down, never stagnating, never staying with the same woman for too long. Maren was an exception, being in a relationship with him for years, but in the end, no pressure or threat, no sweet promise, nothing managed to keep him at her side. He had to leave.

And now he was trapped in this system. In this nebula. The only jump hole to leave this system was unstable and any probe passing through it got ripped apart by unknown anomal forces. In about a week, the Apahanta would be trapped here for an entire year. This was not acceptable, yet not even the best minds on this ship saw a way out of this system, except for the use of the jump drive. And this one only offered two options.

Hopping off the bed, Ezrael left the room the way he was and decided to take a jog. It was night time on the Apahanta, so all lights had switched from white to blue. Nobody was in sight, the hallways were empty. He simply jogged down the hallway, hoping it would exhaust him. Hoping for different thoughts. Something not related to Maren. Maybe Enma Loyola? What a wild meeting. No, that was a bad thought. It was horrible. What trick did she pull off to become a guildmistress of the Core? What crazy times. At least he didn't need to be afraid of the Core anymore. Or the Order, who lifted their bounty on him in return for him sharing the entire weapon database with them. No need to be afraid of the Nomads. Whatever they had planned for mankind, it would not affect him here. There was nobody out here, except the Apahanta. The entire universe felt incredibly empty the moment they left Sirius.

Just as empty as these hallways. Nobody was around at this time. The night shift was on bridge and in engineering. Everyone else was sleeping, while the hundreds of service robots took care of the maintenance. That reminded him of Nodtvibot, the service robot he and Maren had on the Hoffnungsschimmer. A Kishiro Service Robot, but Maren gave him Erik Nodtviet's voice, but somehow it always sounded like he had a cold. Maren had a talent for comedic relief.

Entering a lift, Ezrael took a moment to catch a breath. He had made out with Maren in this lift many times, like a teenage couple. She even did more naughty things to him in here when the lift had a malfunction. Why was it so hard not to think about Maren?

Leaving the lift on another deck, he continued the jog. His long black hair began to stick to his back from the sweat. Maren often complained about his hair in the drain, or his hair tickling her when they cuddled. She didn't like the red highlights he used to have, so he stopped that. By now, he preferred his hair just black. Maybe it was an age thing to try and be less eccentric - whatever that means for a Curacaoan with a huge warship, a very obvious but very decorative scar at the eye and a very colorful, promiscuous history. Maren hated it when he met with other women, but she knew it was a habit he wouldn't overcome. She tried her best to capture his attention as much as possible, though. So even now, three years and three dozens of systems in the distance, he still had her on his mind.

She was insidious. Every time he spoke of her, he convinced everyone on the ship that she was malevolent. Her intentions weren't pristine, despite her love for him. Maren was evil. A devil. An agent of the Wild. Agent Unschuld, which translates into innocence. The irony couldn't have been greater. Nothing about her was innocent. Maren was evil.

Back at his quarters, he felt dirty with the sweat all over his body. It was a bit early for a shower, and it would likely refresh him to the point where he wouldn't be sleepy at all afterwards, but he didn't want to lay down like that either. He dropped his pants and entered the bathroom. The hot water rinsed any sweat off his skin. He looked down at his arms and couldn't help but notice the otherwise barely noticable imperfection of his slightly fading white skin that got deprived of the tanning sunlight of Cortez, in comparison to the flesh and skin of his body that got replaced by synthetic flesh and skin, years ago after almost dying to fire. There were no scars, no burnt skin. Just this really subtle change of skin color. The only scar on his body was at his eye.

Quite obviously, Maren left a second scar on him. It was not visible, but the fact he could not stop thinking about her was driving him insane. They used to shower here together, more than that. She left the scent of his shampoo. Sometimes during the night, she would bury her nose in his hair and just smell it. She always complimented him for his long hair, and pointed out that she doesn't know many men that could wear long hair. Leaving the shower, he grabbed a towel and stopped in front of the sink, looking at the mirror while wiping himself dry. "Apahanta, blow drier." And a second later, warm wind blew from multiple sides down on him. The sensation gave him goose bumps. Many times he had been standing here like this, with Maren hugging him from behind. One hand at his strong chest, her other hand wandering down his abs and deeper. He remembered how out of shape she was when he saw her for the first time. She had a chubby belly. But over time she worked out and ate less trash thanks to him. She became really beautiful. Even now he could see her face in the mirror, nuzzling his neck and placing kisses on his shoulder. Not too rarely they ended up needing another shower.

"Fuck!" he yelled, shaking his head in discomfort, followed by a disgusted sigh. "Fuck you..." Just him in the mirror. He turned around and leaned against the sink while his hair turned from wet and sticky to fine and dry. The warm air brushed it, made it wave in the wind. Like that, he kept staring at the shut door to his room. "She is evil," he said to himself, as if to prove a point.

Short time later, he left the bathroom and went over to the bed, grabbing his Apahanta suit and slipped into it. There was no way he would sleep now, and staying alone in his room certainly wouldn't help his mind to calm down. Grabbing the zipper, he pulled it up slowly, feeling how the material would tightly apply to his skin, up to the neck, only to feel like a second skin. With that, he stormed out of his quarters and headed for the bridge. Two other people were here, and they didn't even sit at their posts but played cards. One of them was Hada, a thin woman from Honshu. The other was Emily, a younger woman from Cambridge. Both were usually reliable, but the night shift was usually extremely boring, so they obviously figured that it was alright to lay down on the floor and play cards. When Ezrael entered, Hada rushed to stand up while Emily remained on her belly, lazily greeting the Captain. "Hey there."

"Get up, I need you at your consoles!" Hada nodded and moved over to the sensors station. Emily however returned a dazed look at him. "NOW!" he yelled, making clear this was not a joke. Intimidated, Emily hurried over to the weapon controls. "Apahanta, red alert. Spool up the jump drive!"

The lights turned red and sirens marked the raised alert status.

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