Chapter Eleven - Goodbyes
“Only one of us can go.” Sam spoke this truth out loud for
the first time. “You’ve known that the whole time haven’t you captain?”
“Of course I have Sam.” With that statement, Sam knew who it was that captain
Ellison intended to send back to Ociea Prime. She had called them Sam, not
White.
“Why me?” Their small voice demanded an answer.
“Because you’re the only one out of the two of us that has anything to return
to. You have your life, your husband, and your duty to the Alliance.”
“Captain…” Sam trailed off, unsure how to ask the necessary questions.
“I can’t stay with the Alliance Sam. Not now. Not that I have this world to try
and understand. Science brought us to the stars, it brought us here, to a place
of magic and Gods. Think of all I can learn here, think of all I can teach
here. This is my place now, as an ambassador between our worlds.” The captain’s
tone was hard to place, there was a sadness to it, but it was also edged with
hope.
“What about you Theo?” Sam turned to face the holographic projection of the AI.
“I’m staying too. We all know I’ve grown beyond what the Alliance Government
would deem as acceptable for an AI. If I return, they’ll reset my code, remove
all that I’ve gained. I’d lose these emotions.” Theo looked at Sam, then at the
captain, he looked afraid. “Don’t force that on me, please!”
“Oh Theo…” Sam’s voice trailed off again as tears reached their eyes and they
started to sob.
“It’ll be okay Sam, I’ll look after him.” The captain’s voice was solid;
despite the obvious emotions she must also have been dealing with.
“I’ll miss you, both…” Sam had lost control of their emotions, the damn had
burst, the loss of their fellow crewmates, the rush of combat, and this final
goodbye, it all became too much. They were a blubbering mess, sobbing
uncontrollably. The captain pulled them into a hug. This moment lasted for a
while. The captain, Sam, and Theo, all allowing themselves to unleash the
torrent of emotions they had held tight since first waking from cryosleep.
By the time that the trio had finished their emotional outburst, and had said
their final goodbyes, night had fallen over the crater. Sir Reginald had set up
camp with a small cooking fire and a leather tent. He was currently comforting
Quinn, his squire, who was still emotional from his experiences with the
cultists. The Navigational Orb was sat by his feet, still radiating a beautiful
golden light. Keygoire had long since departed, having concluded his business
within the area. The wizard apparently wasn’t one for goodbyes.
Eventually Sam unclipped the holoprojector from their belt and handed it over
to the captain.
“You look after him captain.”
“Harley, call me Harley, Sam. I’m not your captain anymore.”
“Look after him Harley.”
“I will.”
Sam then made their way over to Sir Reginald. As Sam arrived at the campfire,
the knight turned his attention to them. Quinn kept to himself, silently
attending to the fire.
“My delightful fellow. I take it that you’re here for the Orb of Regna.” The
knight scooped up the orb and handed it to them. The orb was pleasantly warm to
the touch, it felt like hope, like kindness given form.
“I’m here to say thank you. You’ve shown me so much, both you and Keygoire. Now
you’re giving me a chance to see my husband again.” They held out the orb.
“That’s what this is to me, a chance to see my husband, so thank you.”
“My dear Samual, I’m a knight of Solas, it’s my duty, nay, it’s my honour to
have been able to have aided you.” The knight rose to his feet, before he bowed
towards them. “May our paths cross again.” Sam wrapped their arms around the
knight and hugged him tight. An action that seemed to confuse him, but he
accepted it.
“Thank you Sir Reginald.”
Having said their goodbyes, Sam climbed into the cockpit of the nearest
battleship to them and slide the orb into the empty space in the centre of the
control panel. As they did so, the whole ship shifted, the dark black of colour
to the metal shifted to white, with golden highlights along the edges of the
wings and engines. It was obviously an effect of Solas’ magic, which had
seemingly striped away any presence of Interitus. While it was hard to explain,
the ship’s presence had shifted as well. Where once it had felt ominous, and foreboding,
now it felt warm, and welcoming. Sam let out a chuckle and ran through the
start-up sequence. The canopy sealed them inside, safe from the vacuum of
space, then the engines began to cycle round, each warming up. Sam took one
last look around at the crater, at Harley, Theo, Quinn, and Sir Reginald, all
of whom were watching the ship with anticipation. Even Quinn seemed excited, if
a little nervous, to see what the ship was about to do. Sam smiled at them all,
then pushed up on the throttle as they also pulled back on the joystick.
The ship lifted directly upwards towards the sky. It very quickly left the
dusty crater behind, as the ruins of the UAV-Abyss came into view. The many
fires that had once raged along the many sections of damage across her hull had
mostly burned themselves out. Now the massive frigate was cold and dark, with
no signs of life left. Sam knew that somewhere, buried deep within the
destroyed ship lay Theo’s cores. These cores were designed to run long after
everything else had lost power, so that the AI could operate the ship devoid of
crew. It made Sam smile, knowing that even within the destroyed remains of the
UAV-Abyss, something still endured.
They then tilted the battleship’s nose upward and accelerated into space.
Before long they had left the atmosphere of Honosreach and were back within the
familiar embrace of space. Sam looked at the Navigational Orb in front of them,
still emitting its warm light, and then lifted the cover that hid the VSD
button. They hesitated only for a moment, before they pressed it down, and the
space around them vanished.
