CANAISIS ∞ Chronicle One ∞ 2: A Captain's Journey

61 ∞ The Response

Day 00008 Mission Nilex

The dream vaporized as Captain Gareth Levant snapped his eyes open. He buried the surfacing thoughts of his wife without thought and cast his gaze around.

He was back in his quarters—with one new exception. The chair by the door, next to his bookshelf, held an occupant. Gareth raised himself up on his elbows to look at Ahmid. Still unaware of him, Ahmid sat cross-legged, engrossed in a book.

«Canaisis, report,» Gareth thought.

«All is well, Captain,» Canaisis responded in his mind. «No change in flight. No change in the status of the ships I'm observing. Nothing to report on the seed pods, yet. Ayla is well and recovering strength, but her Gift still holds her. Lina and Nura are with her now. You've been unconscious for eighteen hours. And finally, you have company, Captain.»

«I'm aware of that,» he responded with sarcasm. «Why do I have someone in my cabin?»

«Why don't you ask him yourself, Captain? He was quite insistent on staying.»

«He stayed here the whole time?»

Silence was his only answer.

He sighed to himself. Canaisis could be quite stubborn on some matters, so he decided not to push her. Especially since any answer he wanted was sitting in his room.

Gareth threw his legs over the edge of the bed and sat up, catching Ahmid's attention. Ahmid closed the book he was reading and met his gaze.

"Hello, Captain. Are you feeling better? You gave us quite a scare."

Gareth took stock of himself and found that, although tired and dry-mouthed, he felt generally in good health. In fact, better than expected after staying with Ayla during the process.

He tilted his head. «What did you do, Canaisis?»

«I took the liberty of updating your nanos, Captain. Now answer your guest before he thinks you're mentally deficient.»

«I've no right to feel this good after all that radiation exposure. We'll talk about this later, Canaisis.» He turned his gaze to Ahmid who was watching him, waiting for a response.

"Yes, thank you. I do feel better. Fit enough to resume my duties."

«Humph,» piped Canaisis in his mind.

"That's good." Ahmid's concerned expression relaxed a little. "Canaisis explained to us what you went through helping Ayla. We wanted to know what happened to you after you passed out on the floor. Captain, you weren't forthcoming about what you'd be exposing yourself to. Why didn't you tell me?"

Gareth thought about what Ahmid was asking, but he didn't really have an answer Ahmid would understand. He decided to keep it simple and direct.

"I knew I could survive what needed to be done, Ahmid. It's as simple as that."

"No, Captain, I cannot agree with that. Canaisis told us how Ayla was shielded from the worst of it, the same as you were the first time. But for a man to knowingly stand in the rift between this dimension and another, I have to either admire him or call him crazy."

Gareth couldn't help but laugh. "Insanity is only a matter of perspective."

Ahmid smiled weakly as he leaned back, still looking him in the eye. "You might be correct about that, but we are discussing this from my perspective."

Gareth stood up and found his weight and balance were off. His hand flew to his holster to find it empty, and he looked up to Ahmid.

"It's on your desk, Captain. Your holster isn't designed for you to sleep with a gun."