Inevitable Ascension

Chapter 17 - Fiery Death, Watery Grave

Violina watched with anticipation as the torpedoes rocketed from their launchers. In a glorious eruption of stone and fire, the rock wall gave way to blue skies and a rising sun. Raging echoes reverberated through the cavern in announcement of Violina's defiant return. She had been thrust into the pit alone and destitute, left to die by nefarious scoundrels, but now she emerged a hardened overlord with a powerhouse of destruction at her command.

Violina activated the nearby intercom. "Set us up at 105 degrees and throttle to full!" At her words, the engines powered to a steady roar. Eager to once again see a world untainted by the devastation of the Second Sun, Violina beckoned Lux to follow her up the ladder to the surface deck. Pushing open the hatch, the toxic air of the ship escaped into the breeze.

"I'm happier than a clam at a birthday party!" exclaimed Lux, removing her mask and tossing it onto the deck. "The kind that's a guest, not an entrée," she clarified.

Violina could only assume this was a new level of ecstatic. "You sure you didn't want that as a souvenir?" she asked, doing the same with her mask. "Because I sure don't."

Soon the ghostlike faces of the crew began to emerge in complete bewilderment at the sight of a crystal sea and clear skies.

Violina climbed atop one of the deck gun nests so everyone could hear her. "I've lost count of how many times I've proven myself to you all! Now I'm going to tell you something more, and you can go to your graves knowing I keep my word!"

The crew turned silent. They were clearly nervous, and aptly so. Every address Violina had ever given had drastically changed their lives, including the death of Forge, the destruction of Eden and now the abandonment of their world.

"You've all got one job now: Crew my ship! Achieve this to a minimally acceptable standard and your servitude will end. You'll be free to go and build your lives in a living and breathing world, but if you choose to keep up your violent habits of defiance, I can promise you a fate far less pleasant!" She saw no reason to inform them that their existence would evaporate and reset the moment Kza was killed. After all, there were two rules for success. One: Don't tell people everything you know. "Now get back to your stations and take us east until we reach land."

After the crew dispersed, Lux approached Violina with a look of concern across her formerly jubilant face. "Did you notice what Titus just pulled from his pocket?"

"No, why?"

"It was a pocket watch—a sapphire pocket watch."

Violina leaned against the deck gun. "Are you suggesting that it was Kali's?"

"Well, it's not exactly the sort of thing someone could pick up at a street vendor now is it?"

"He very well could've scavenged it. Look, I dislike Titus as much as you do, but I really don't see how that's a big deal. We scavenge everything! And if she was dead it's not like she wanted it anymore."

Lux spoke in a serious tone, unbecoming of her norm. "But what if he didn't happen upon it? What if he killed her and took it?"

As Violina thought about it, Lux's reasoning wasn't without base. Titus had been the one that fired the pistol at Violina when they first met after all.

Lux continued. "Think about it. When we found the bodies of the scouting party, they were nearly skeletal and not far from the crevice in the mountain where we left them, yet the bodies in Eden took several days to decay."

"You suppose he killed them and took all the rations for himself and Connor?"

Lux paced along the deck. "They even tried to rationalize trying to kill you to your face, remember? It's absolutely the sort of thing he would do! He's like a half-chicken, half-vulture monster!"