Tsaimath
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Black Sky - Chapter 61
🕑 Added 2020-06-04 09:47:10 +0000 UTC
I stored the last pack of fresh rations in the galley-cupboard, before pushing myself up, careful not to put too much strength into it, or I’d bounce off the overhead. Airah had helped carry in the large and cumbersome items but she had needed to deal with the paperwork, something I just couldn’t do, leaving me to take care our purchases.
After making sure that nothing had been left behind in the storage-locker, I walked into the cockpit, taking the pilot-seat next to Airah. She was tapping away at the computer, giving me a short glance and smile when I walked up before focusing back on her work.
“I’m almost done here, give me a moment.” she said, while I started the procedure to log into the headgear, so I would be able to fully use the computer.
“Okay, I’m done. We have all the documents we wanted and we are squared up with the nice people of Jake’s Place. Would you take us out?” she asked, giving me another bright smile.
“Of course, Captain.” I answered, using the old title for the master of the vessel, now mostly fallen out of use due to the rank of the same name. The guidance-system was already fired up and moments later, I felt the inertial compensators spin up, giving us the standard one-gravity, making me feel strangely heavy. It was better than turning into a smear on the aft-bulkhead as soon as I gave some acceleration, so it was a necessity of fast space-travel.
I carefully navigated out of the tunnel, again, feeling as if the walls were closing in on the Tyton and me, until we finally got out, into the thin atmosphere of the moon the habitat was buried in.
“Would you give me coordinates? You mentioned something about a nebula to the guy at the office.” I prodded Airah, who nodded and highlighted a set of coordinates in the navigation-computer. It was another week of journey, at least if the jump-route worked as it should. The route the computer generated on its own looked good to me, the parameters used were a little conservative but we weren’t in some sort of hurry, at least not that I knew of. Setting a course away from the large, local masses, I let the Tyton accelerate away from Jake’s Place, before looking over to Airah.
“We are on our way. I think now would be a good time to talk about last night and this morning, right?” I asked, reaching out to take her hand.
“Yeah, I guess.” Airah agreed, sounding quite reluctant, even as she gently squeezed my hand. It seemed to be a bit of a contradiction, her obviously pleased reaction earlier and now reluctance? It didn’t make sense, at least to me. I had once heard that the key to any relationship was communication, so after metaphorically gritting my teeth, I decided to straight-out ask about it.
“Why do you sound like I suggested to take a space-walk without suits? You know, witness the glory of the stars, up close and personal.” I asked, looking over to her and seeing a wry smile, so I continued, “Normally, you seem to be always calm and collected, not so…” I struggled to find the right word, not wanting to insult her.
“Scattered?” she suggested, her smile turning more amused, before she nodded and began to talk.
“You could say that it’s complicated.” she suggested, her face slowly fading, “Would you believe me that you were the first real friend my age I had?” she asked, her tone reminding me of a conversation we had, right after our flight began and I nodded in response, wanting her to continue talking.
“I told you that my family name is Andrews, right?” she asked, seemingly in a non-sequitur. “You studied quite a bit about the last war, does the name Robert Andrews ring any bells?” she continued, causing me to frown as I tried to remember. I might have been able to find out using the computer but that would have been cheating.
“Rear Admiral Robert Andrews, Master of the Tenacious.” she added after a moment and I barely managed to keep my jaw from dropping. Pretty much every history of the mutiny focused on Admiral Kezost, her officers mostly forgotten. But the Master of her Flagship had to be high-up in her command, an important advisor and officer.
“Yes, he’s my father.” she added, when I was unable to formulate any real answer.
“And people saw you as some sort of extension of his status?” I asked, trying to imagine what it would be like to grow up as the daughter of one of the most important leaders of your people. I could see how it would lead to a gap between you and others your age.
“No, not really.” she denied, causing my frown to return.
“No, what kept me apart from others is the other half of the pairing. You see, my father admired my mother a great deal and took a lot of pride in fulfilling her orders, to see her plans com to fruition. It seems that in their case, the workplace-romance worked out just fine.” she explained, the implication clear but I had to ask, just to make sure I wasn’t drawing the wrong conclusion.
“Your mother is Admiral Daramiah Kezost?” I asked, barely managing to keep my voice level.
“Yes, she is. Privately, she goes by Andrews now, only when dealing with official matters, she uses Kezost.” Airah explained, removing any doubt, no matter how small.
Just as I tried to wrap my head around the enormity of it all, I noticed that there was a look of fear on Airah’s face and a realisation swept over me like a bucket of cold water. She was afraid of my reaction and every moment was unpleasant for her. Pushing away the rest of the universe, I simply focused on what it meant for me, in regards to Airah. Nothing, absolutely nothing.
“I guess she has excellent taste in tea.” I quipped, focusing on an irrelevant detail, trying to make light of it, as I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. For a moment, she looked just confused, before a look of relief washed over her, followed by slightly manic giggles.
Still, as I waited for her giggles to subside, some of the implications set in. I could understand Airah not telling me, or rather, being afraid to tell me. In the Federation, her mother had been painted as a monster, a strategic genius, with a penchant for genocide and wholesale slaughter. On the other hand, amongst the Void Guard, her status would have to be different, otherwise things wouldn’t work. It seemed to be an organisation of former Starfleet-personnel, willing to follow the Admiral into exile and sticking together in exile. For that, the personnel must follow her with a strong conviction, believing in her cause. I couldn’t even begin to imagine just how lonely an existence such a command would bring with it and by extension, just how much of a shadow it would cast over Airah.
Now, it also made a lot of sense why she had wanted to leave the Void Guard and even join the Starfleet. There, she would be mostly out of her Mother’s shadow and if she wanted, she could still compare herself to her.
Finally, while I was still contemplating just what Airah’s status meant, she got herself back under control, her giggles winding down.
“Thank you. I had no idea how you would react and you managed to surprise me. I imagined a reaction of fear or hate, maybe one of awe and curiosity but a comment on her tea-drinking habits? That, I didn’t see coming.” she grinned, shaking her head in disbelief.
“You are not your mother.” I simply stated, focusing on the person next to me, pushing everything else away from me. “But how did we get from what we got up to last night to your mother?” I asked, trying to project both humour and confusion at the same time, causing another short giggling fit.
“Thanks for that, I really didn’t need the mental connection.” she said, her voice still light with amusement.
“We got there, because I wanted you to understand why I’m a little awkward in some social situations, especially around intimate topics. There’s no manual for that and I certainly couldn’t ask my mother for advice, or any of the adults when I was growing up.” she explained and I nodded in understanding.
For a bit, we just sat next to each other in silence, simply letting the void drift by, a gas-giant filling one side of our view, the darkness of space the other.
