Through Time, Darkly

[Vogel]

He knew what happened when he stayed away from his fighter for too long. He didn't know why, or how, which of course was one of the many reasons he was here. Nevertheless, the choice was almost redundant: stick by it for as long as possible. "Recharge and keep charged" so to speak.

Still, they'd offered him some accommodations. Couldn't imagine it being much worse than a bench on a Freeport, let alone the barracks back on Pluto...

If Pluto was still intact by now. Didn't Rockford say something about implosion..?

He shook his head and sat down on the nose of the Minuteman; more important things to consider right about now. Course of action.

They seemed nice enough... most of them... Could easily be a farce, a vile facade which would be stripped away at the worst possible moment. But what kind of thinking was that? The paranoid delusions of a man born in, brought up in, and tossed around in a world of persistent warfare, suddenly put in a place so far out of his native element he was surprised people spoke anything close to English? Sounded about right.

But he needed to break that thought. It would only continue a cycle of avoidance, would get him nowhere. It wouldn't let him complete his mission.

... His mission?

The one he was sent on by those...

Doyle winced a bit; even the memory had a tinge of mental anguish pinned along with it. He was sent here to do... what?

Couldn't remember. Or did he just not understand? God only knew.

He only knew. Very little, that is.

Right thing to worry about right now?

With people like that bodyguard hanging around? Not likely.

He'd check out the things they'd set up. Common courtesy, right? Diplomatic relations from humanity's Stone Age. The amusing thought of being a primitive ambassador from the past occurred to him as he stood up and walked along the length of the cargo bay.