Star flight

Chapter thirty one: killians tale

As the dawn broke over the StarFlight, Lexan was the first to wake, he looked at the empty space where his love would be sleeping.....

Shrugging off the feeling of incompleteness, he walked outside, to see rook staring off silently at the raising sun, killian sat near by, and noticed him.

He waved him over, Lexan sighed and did so, why did he get a feeling he knew this person?

"I wouldn't disturb your friend, he's in mourning" the strange man known as killian said.

Lexan nodded and looked at the crackling bushes that he had collected, and asked "who are you?"

"I told you, my name is killian"

"I meant who are you, and how did you manage to fight off the stranger?"

"Well, you already know who I am, and as for this 'stranger', he was simply a by product of the jerk hidden behind this door"

"What's your last name?"

"Don't have one, I got rid of it eons ago"

"Why?"

"You ask a lot of questions for one so young" he said laughing, but sobered at Lexans look.

"Fine, I didn't need it anymore, a name such as the one I had wasn't really needed, it just reminded me of all I lost"

"So you got rid of it? a name is precious, you shouldn't just throw it away!"

He laughed and said "you remind me so much of y- of gorden, he was constantly telling me to keep it....."

Lexan frowned, what was he about to say? it didn't matter at that moment, as rook rejoined them.

The conversation turned to less important things, like food, rook offered to go get some from the ship and left, Lexan could help but notice the change over his friend.....

"I wouldn't worry about it if I were you" killian said, poking the fire "in'stara are a race that lives and breathes as a family, everyone is related and everyone shares the load of life, to lose one is a tragedy, to lose many is like destroying the hive, a complete horror"

"How do you know so much about them?" Lexan asked, he was curious, but killian smiled and shrugged, but added

"My secret young one, my secret"

With a groan, he lay down and watched the stars disappear as the malga star returned, burning shadow....

***

For the next couple of hours killian entertained himself with the star flight "she's an interesting bird, quite the letdown at first sight, but lovely all the same"

And after that, killian had to excuse himself as even he was slightly worried by the killer intent wafting off of Lexan.

At around midday, Lexan, growing tired of killians endless diversion of questions, sat down and looked him straight in the eye "oh dear....." was all killian could say.

"No more stalling, no more getting off topic, who are you, why are you here and how come you look like me?"

Killian leant back and got comfortable, before saying "the truth? can be both healer and harmer, we want to hear it, yet we're afraid to at the same time......I suppose the beginning started over fifty years ago, I was born on a small mining rock known as sword beta, yes, the one near sword alpha......"

He paused for so long that Lexan felt as if that was it, but he started again...

"Then came this cursed disease, it struck down millions, half of the planets were quarantined, and even more purged, but unlike this one, the diseased had free will, and chose to be shot rather then do the things that flashed through their minds"

He poked the fire a bit more and continued;

"For years we lived in fear that we'd be next, that's when I met a man from the in'stara, he must of seen something within me, or known something I didn't, because pretty soon I was on a ship to the malga star system, of course the dead space wasn't there then, just a lot of pirates"

Lexans gaze never left him, wondering where this was going....

"When we got there, it seemed as if all the planet was under siege, there were battle scars all across the planet, and it looked as if it would devour it whole"

"The queen taught me herself, quite the lovely lady, I think I fell for her at one point, mind you she wasn't the queen then, anyway, not the point"

Lexan said nothing, trying to picture an in'stara beautiful enough to capture the attention of a human, but stopped as he continued.

"Soon I was on the battle field, and I suppose I must have proven myself, because I was heaped with rewards an honors.....well, soon, the whole galaxy was fighting what was known as the silent war, not many people outside the government knew what we were fighting.....crazed half formed disease men, capable of spreading their pestilence through any form they wanted"

"After four years of war, we pushed the scum back to the plagr shone, and during the most bloody of battles, I was wounded, stabbed from my shoulder down to my hip, they used a sort of axe scythe thing that was made of bones, as I fell, it seemed as if everything was open to me! the entirety of knowledge was mapped in front of me, everything that was, is and all that has yet to happen"

He paused and looked up, snorted and continued "it felt like years as I stared at all there ever was, but in truth it was a single second, when I woke, it was to find my sounds had healed, and my strength increased a thousand fold! we destroyed the army, and given my new found knowledge I created the door and the in'stara fashioned glyphs to keep this monster"

Here he jerked his thumb to the door, and Lexan looked at it, before he spoke again.

"Sealed inside, but after that, where was I to go? what could I do? I decided to seek out what made me this way and thank it, and that's my story"

"But how do you look like me? surely there's something to that?"

He stared so hard at Lexan that he thought he might explode "there is.....but for another time, right now, you have to report, otherwise they'll assume the worst, ill remain here and keep an eye on old snagelpuss"

"Huh?"

"Means a grumpy bastard, now hurry up!"

He jumped up and nodded, before running off to get everyone.

As killian watched it take off, he heard a voice whisper "look how much he's grown! my lovely boy"

"I know.....I know....." he replied, his smile warm and comfortable.