CANAISIS ∞ Chronicle One ∞ 3: A Shard Of Code

107 ∞ Acorn of Hope

Day 00013 Mission Nilex


"Ahmid!"

Ayla heard Ahmid respond from the depths of the Fishery as she raced for the exit. She slowed to step out of the airlock door and found Gareth still some distance away, striding toward her.

He wore his full captain's uniform, and his walk caught her attention. His half jacket tails swayed with each step, the bulge of his sidearm revealing itself every time his right foot landed and his hip moved. Dark blue jacket and gray pants contrasted with the gold insignia on his collar. Ayla understood now what that insignia stood for, and her heart swelled with pride for him, for he'd earned it.

But as she looked at his face, her stomach knotted at the thought of facing him. No emotion came from him. No softening of his eyes at the sight of her, but no hard rejection, either.

She felt Ahmid behind her as he left the Fishery and stepped past her. Grateful that he would be the first to meet the Captain, Ayla kneeled onto the cold hangar floor and lowered her head, giving the Captain her respect as she waited.

It was Ahmid who spoke first when the Captain was close enough. "Greetings, Captain." He bowed. "I am grateful to you for our lives. We are in your debt."

"It is I who am in your debt, Ahmid, and it is Ayla you should be thanking."

Ayla tightened her clasped hands on her lap, keeping her gaze fixed on the floor behind Ahmid's feet. The Captain's polished black ship boots stepped around Ahmid and halted before her.

"Why do you kneel, Ayla? I thought we had an understanding."

Ayla lifted her head to see Gareth holding his hand out to her. She saw only sadness in his hazel eyes as she took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. In that brief contact, she felt his walls back in place, in full force—it was as it had been the first day they'd met.

"There, that is much better." He looked at her a moment longer, then turned to Ahmid. "I promised Ayla that we could go to look in on the Sleep chamber."

Ahmid nodded. "Of course, Captain. I would like that very much."

With a curt nod, the Captain turned and started walking down the lane between the Fishery and the equipment. Ahmid hurried to catch up with the Captain, falling in step beside him, one step behind.

Ayla followed, torn and confused as she tried to understand what she'd perceived within Gareth. The acceptance and sadness she'd seen was only a surface emotion, what he allowed himself to feel. But underneath, there was nothing but the distance he wrapped around himself. The space of Nothing between him and the world was back in place again, not to be penetrated or touched. Ayla felt keenly the depth of time that separated him from his home, his awareness of it. It was like a razor's edge: you didn't feel the cut itself, only the damage done after the cut.

Is it me and all that's happened? Or the prospect of another jump through the Long Years?

Ayla was in such deep thought that she paid no attention to the small talk going on between the two men.

When they came to the hangar's outer wall and entered what she remembered as the engineers' dormitory, she was surprised. This large, sectioned room with low ceiling ran parallel to the locker room where the rest of her Nilex family had lined up to enter cold sleep twelve days ago. But it was much larger than it had been at Canaisis' launch, with passages on the left leading to the locker room, bathrooms, and kitchens, and stairwells on both sides leading to more dormitory levels.

Deep within the dormitory, they arrived at a round door where the Captain checked the monitor on the side before entering a code. They had to step out of the way as the massive door swung open on its broad hinges. Ayla had never seen this door before—it was much thicker than the Bridge door. The room on the other side was the most protected area of the ship, located at its core, the furthest distance possible from the hull. As they stepped into the silent chamber, Ayla found her gaze travel upward in amazement.