A soft smile suddenly lit Lasren’s face. Followed by a noticeable reddening of his cheeks. Gwyn did a quick double take between Lasren and Patel, then said, “Oh, come on. You two haven’t…?”
If anything, this made Patel’s genuine confusion worse.
“Drop it,” Lasren said with quiet intensity. Gwyn shook her head but at least for a moment seemed to have pulled herself from her own emotional quagmire.
“You said you needed me?” Gwyn asked, clearly trying to change the subject.
Patel, equally anxious to segue, said, “I want you to take the helm of the Delta Flyer for me. I’ve been assigned an away mission to explore the inner asteroid field; specifically, to search for the technology the Edrehmaia used to control the star’s movement once it had escaped orbit.”
“Why?” Gwyn asked seriously.
“Because it might be the only intact technology left now and you’re the best pilot we have.”
“And?”
“And what? We need to understand the Edrehmaia better before we face them again.”
A deep sigh escaped Gwyn’s lips. “Isn’t that sort of like expecting an alien race to understand us by giving them one of our antigrav lifts?”
An unintentional chuckle escaped Lasren.
“They’d probably end up assuming we all weighed five hundred kilograms,” Gwyn added darkly.
Patel could not conceal her confusion. “You have been pushing for us to find the Galen since before most of us even knew they had survived. How is understanding every single thing about the species that took them not at the very top of your to-do list?”
“It is,” Gwyn replied. “But, those asteroids…”
“I don’t think she knows the whole story, Aytar,” Lasren interjected.
“I know you were injured in the only mission we’ve undertaken thus far to explore the asteroids,” Patel said. “I’m sure it was terrible.”
“The stuff you found under the surface, the so-called Edrehmaia substance, it attacked me,” Gwyn said. “It didn’t think or ask or say hello. I was slicing off a chunk of rock, exposed some of it, and it just grabbed me. It started moving up my arm and eating through my suit before Seven stunned it with a phaser. That’s the only reason I survived. The shuttle we were in didn’t.
“This is not an alien we establish first contact with. This is a force of nature, driven by its own agenda, that simply does whatever the hell it wants. I’m guessing the things that made it are exactly the same.”
“They did try to communicate with us,” Lasren said.
“They gave us the biological equivalent of name, rank, and serial number,” Gwyn shot back. “And then they took one of our ships, just because they could. You and the rest of the senior staff are acting like this is some poor, misunderstood exotic life-form that just needs a hug or, worse, some kind of pet science project. It isn’t. They’re not. It’s liquid death and it doesn’t care who we are or what we want.”
“So how would you suggest we deal with them?” Lasren asked. “Since our standard protocols don’t seem to be working for you.”
“We just need to know where they took our ship,” Gwyn snapped back. “When we figure that out, we go in, transport as many of our people as we can to safety, and get the hell out.”
“And pray that’s the end of it?” Patel asked.
“Yes.”
Patel sat back, wondering again what had happened to her friend in the last few weeks. Some of the trauma she understood. A great deal more she could not fathom. Finally, she said, “You’re scared. I get that. And you’re angry. I am too. Those things called me by name when they showed up, which is more than a little terrifying. But they didn’t take me, and I have a feeling they could have if they’d wanted to. It’s not a game, but it is a puzzle and we don’t have enough pieces yet to formulate a plan. Part of that is anything their technology can tell us, which might include how to find them. And you should probably know that this mission includes safely extracting and studying some of the Edrehmaia substance.”
“Don’t go, Devi. Don’t do it. I know you’re feeling good right now. You’re planning missions with the senior staff, feeling important, and that’s something you wanted, but…”
“Shut up,” Patel said. “Just shut the hell up.”
“Devi,” Lasren pleaded.
“This isn’t about me, you idiot,” Patel continued, her voice rising. “I don’t know what happened to you. I don’t even know who you are anymore. I don’t feel important. I feel every bit as frightened and sad and worried about our lost ship as everyone else around here. Why are you so pissed at me?”
“Because if you hadn’t decided to throw your life away, I wouldn’t have had to—” But at this, Gwyn stopped short.
“To do what?”
Tears began to form again in Gwyn’s eyes. She wiped them quickly and cast a plaintive look toward Lasren.
“Tell her,” he said simply.
Gwyn shook her head. “You promised,” she said, a soft accusation.
“I know. And I stand by that,” Lasren said. “I’m not going to betray your confidence. But this is pointless. She can’t help you if she doesn’t know what you’re trying to protect.”
“I don’t need her help. I don’t want anyone’s help.”
Lasren glanced between them, at a loss. “Here’s what I can tell you, Gwyn. This isn’t going to get better. What you did, what you became, we’re in uncharted waters here. And if we never find the Galen…”
“Don’t say it,” Gwyn protested.
“Someone has to. If we never find the Galen, you’re going to have to figure out how to deal with that loss. Even if we do, you’re never going to have the kind
