She leaves their presence under guard, head held high in defiance. A week later, they learn that upon being released in M33, the Triangulum galaxy, she takes her waverider into the heart of the closest star and destroys herself, to what final fate the galanen do not know.
Later, Achi finds Beltare staring out one of the very few true windows within Luna Base, one that overlooks the moonscape. The base is on the far side of the moon from Earth and is currently in shadow. The surface is cold, airless, and barren. A perfect reflection of the mood of many of the galanen. “How do you feel?”
She doesn't respond for a while, pondering this question. “Tainted.”
“It’s hard to be the focus of such evil and not feel so. How is Trègar holding up?”
“He is distraught, but I can do nothing for him. He feels guilty, though I've tried to help him understand he has no reason to. He pushes me away when I try to share with him, afraid that to accept my attention would be to somehow substantiate Stelarosa's accusations. Even in death she afflicts us; it seems the shell chose its weapon well.”
“Just as it does on Earth, it seeks out points of division and dissension and does what it can to exacerbate them. The galanen, perhaps by sharing so much of their lives, are naturally more resistant to such machinations, but sadly, not immune.”
They stare at the moonscape in silence for a while. They see a bit of dust kick up as a micrometeorite impacts in the distance, an exceedingly rare moment of change in this dead environment.
“Would you… would you visit with him?” she requests without looking at him, continuing to stare out the window.
Achi nods, standing there silently for a while. He briefly puts his hand on her impassive shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze, before lowering it in silence. He has no words that can salve her pain, so he simply stands vigil with her for a while longer, sharing nothing more than his presence so she doesn't feel completely alone.
∞∞∞
“How are they doing?” Zaleria asks him, communing via his newly created comms package.
“Better,” Achi relates, “At least the healing has begun, but it will be a long road for each of them. Time can still most pain, even if the scars remain. It would be best to keep them actively engaged in something positive, like hunting down the shell. That's why it is really past time for me to return to Earth.”
“I'll be going with you and Clive, so I'm afraid I'll have to impose upon you to help me create a suitable history.”
“I'm sure you've already let Clive know your intentions, so I expect he has started creating the paper trail. I'll work with him to make sure it is airtight once we get back. Will you at least give me a couple weeks to get that in place before you show up?”
“No, I'm sure you can just hide me as you have done before. When will you come to Perxephsis to pick us up and gather the gear?”
“I should be there within six hours. I'm just wrapping up a couple things here with Fandtha. I think we've finally cleared out the last of the shell's symbiots from the base. They were everywhere, which means it has been aware of almost all our activities. There are a couple other loose ends I hope to clear up once I arrive. I assume Mother is still well?”
Zaleria pauses as she thinks through the ramifications of what Achi has just told her. “Uh, yes, she is well and has been a huge help in getting this place to look more like home. We've made good progress.”
“Good, I'll see you all soon. Say ‘hi’ to Clive for me and give my regards to Mother.”
“Will do. See you soon.”
Achi finds Fandtha sharing with Beltare and Jevelle. “It is time for me to swing by Perxephsis and then get back to Earth. While the shell no doubt relished watching all the chaos Stelarosa was able to achieve, it has paid a price and lost much of its insights into our activities, so now is our best opportunity to start striking at its weak points, and then seek a path to its vulnerable center. We need to increase the number of random waverider flights, as we'll soon start targeting its cells around the world. That is, if you concur, elders.”
This elicits a hearty laugh from Jevelle. “It's so funny when you try to act subordinate, even though we all know the truth; you will act as you see fit regardless of what the galanen do. You've made that plain. But I guess you could say we concur since Beltare has already done what you request.”
“And I didn't seek your permission,” Beltare teases. “However, as much as I enjoy bantering with you, I don't think you should keep Zaleria waiting more than she needs to. I'm sure she is eager to get you back. I'll be relying on the two of you to identify opportunities for our Irruptors.”
“Irruptors? I like the name, fitting for the quick, sudden strikes they'll engage in. Marines a little too militant for the galanen?”
“We don't engage in war,” Beltare responds.
“We'll see. Sometimes, war engages you, indifferent to what you will,” Achi muses, thoughtfully. “But don't get me wrong; I hope we can avoid all-out war, because Earth would suffer the most if we can't.”
She walks over and kisses him lightly on the cheek. “I still don't know what to think about you. Are you my failure, a monster, or an evolved soul? The Creator of all that Is must have been ornery the day He planned your fate, but I wish you and Zaleria well; you complement each other.”
Achi gives her a gentle embrace. “May the Light guide your and Trègar's steps away from the darkness that has so long plagued you, until you remember it no more.” She shakes her head and smiles, amazed again at the complexity of his personality.
Fandtha walks over and claps him on the back. “Thanks for all you've done; you've been a big help. I, uh, look forward to visiting you on Earth soon, and, er, sampling a few more varieties of beer.”
“I'm sure that can be arranged; my kin have invented these wonderful establishments called microbreweries—dedicated to small, unique craft brews. We should find some time to sample a few, eh? I've enjoyed learning from you, but I really must be going.”
He heads to the shuttle bay after saying his farewells, grabs a waverider and heads to the D-ship hanging out at L2. Shortly after he gets to the bridge, they make the dimensional transition to head to Perxephsis—after one quick detour along the way.
In a few hours, he finds himself again facing the gatekeepers. “Hello Hunter, you have questions?”
“It wouldn't be a journey through this dimension if I didn't ask you questions. I believe I understand at least some of what you tell me.”
They stand there, silently, although they do not seem impatient. Achi recalls time has no meaning for them. “What has become of Stelarosa?”
“Your labels are without meaning.”
“Bitterness, I believe you knew her as Bitterness,” Achi recalls their last meeting.
“We know her. Truth exposes Bitterness.”
“Yes, I know. I was there when it happened. But where is she now?”
“Bitterness is where, what, why, who, and how. Bitterness is. Virtue is. Time is irrelevant. You are there.” And with that, they translate back into the material universe, Achi's head physically hurting as he tries to wrestle with the meaning of their words. He feels they are exceptionally profound, but he isn't sure exactly why. How could everything that came together to make Stelarosa who she was be distilled into one word, one title. Similarly, surely Achi is more than just a Hunter? And Zaleria, while Achi refers to her as his angel, she is far from purely virtuous. She has known eight galan casually, outside of a formal bond. She has made mistakes and grown and learned from them. Do these things not matter? Or should he instead be glad that he's not known as “Rapist” or “Murderer?” Are beings known by their most prominent characteristic, whether good or ill? Perhaps it is situational, changing with context? Each name, perhaps, carried by different beings as warranted? A mystery, to be sure. Maybe someday he'll understand better.
Zaleria's voice in his head brings him back to the mysteries that remain in this universe. “Welcome Achi to Pe
rxephsis, welcome home. I am glad you are here.” He smiles to himself; he could so get used to this. It makes him feel warm all over.
“It is good to be home, but…, I am so glad you are here. Home is much more than just a place. All of my family is here.”
He takes the waverider to the surface, where he is greeted by Zaleria, Clive, and Traemuña. He stares at Zaleria. He knew she had been adapting her body to disguise who she is while he was on Luna, but the change is remarkable. She is several centimeters shorter, with her face rounder, and her waist thicker—along with her arms and legs to conserve her mass. Her hair is black and straight, eyes a dark brown. On Earth, she would easily pass for a youngish oriental woman, a bit tall and a little pudgy, but otherwise unremarkable. Of course, the extra mass is all muscle, but you'd have to see her undressed to know that, or be on the receiving end of a well-executed round house kick.
He hugs Traemuña first, then kisses Zaleria, and gives Clive a handshake and a clap on the back. They head over to where their home is still taking shape. A small cavity has been digested out of the cleft in the mountainside, as they'd envisioned. They will dig into the hillside and tunnel through to the other side, where they will create a large, half-covered balcony with a great view of the sun rising over the sea. Achi wraps an arm loosely around Zaleria's waist and waits for her to discover what is in his mind. He feels her stiffen in surprise and then turn to him excitedly. “You didn't!”
The others, startled, look at him. “I'm afraid I did. I just happened to be in the neighborhood.” He pulls something from his pocket as he pulls her hand over, her eyes gleaming. Into her upturned palm he places four telitorri seeds, scavenged from the ruins of Juruele.
She stares at them, eyes misting over, before she grabs tightly onto Achi and breaks down—falling to her knees—finally giving in to her grief over the loss of Juruele. Achi holds her in his embrace, as the others gather around to support her, giving her time to let it all out in angry, heaving sobs. It takes a very long time.
Eventually, she regains her composure, pulls herself upright, smiles and thanks all of them for being there. “I see you've already thought about how to adapt the design,” She finally says, with a sniffle.
“Feel free to add anything you'd like to it,” Achi cedes.
“I know.” She smiles as she snuggles up against his side. “Thank you; they are perfect.”
“I know.”
“Well played man, well played.” Clive pats him on the back.
“Thanks. Are you packed up and ready to get back to Earth?”
He nods.
“That was thoughtful; I'm glad you were able to finally help her grieve. It needed to be done.” Traemuña says appreciatively.
Achi nods his agreement, as Zaleria walks over near the entrance to plant the seeds. “I think the loss of her home made her more angry than hurt, but she can't hold that inside either. It is as much a poison as jealousy.” He pauses to glance back at Zaleria as she kneels to plant the first seed. He feels through their shared bond the instructions she gives to their symbiots on how to care for and direct their growth. He turns back to his adopted mother. “Can you and I have a moment to discuss something, alone? I've, uh, kept it isolated from Zaleria.”
“You can do that?” she whispers.
Achi shrugs. “For a short period, especially when she’s distracted.”
She shakes her head. “Zaleria dear, I'll let you plant those, but I would like a private moment with your beau. Of course, it won't stay private for long, but I would like his uninfluenced opinion about something.”
She looks at them and wrinkles her nose. “That smells like utter bullshit, but go ahead. I'll find out what it’s all about shortly, even if I must order my symbiots to tell me. He likes to think he can hide small matters from me. That's okay, let him enjoy his delusions. Clive will keep me company.”
Achi waves at her as he walks off with Traemuña. “That went about like I expected. Still, I did want to talk with you about this first, uninfluenced as you said. It really bothers me that despite all that has happened, we can't explain how Zaleria was cut off from the collective during her first mission to Earth. I have a theory.”
Traemuña eyes him suspiciously. “Oh, do you now? And I assume it involves me?”
“Yes. I've brought many children into the world, every one of them precious to me. I've outlived all of them, save one. Their descendants are too numerous for me to count or keep track of anymore, but I still mourn every one of them that never made it to adulthood, which was the majority.” He watches how Traemuña reacts to this, the look of sympathy from a fellow sentient for every parent's worst fear. “If I were a very long-lived person, and had only brought one child into the world, I'd want to ensure she remained safe, so that one day, she too would bring life into the universe and continue my heritage. Given the right degree of technical achievement, I might place my symbiots into said child to act as a 'baby monitor,' so to speak.”
Traemuña's face becomes a mask, but Achi sees a slight twitch in the corner of her eye. “Dammit. Okay, hypothetically speaking, if said sentient inserted such symbiots into another without their knowledge, that wouldn't explain how that would help a shell cut her off from the collective.”
“What if Gravis did the same?”
Traemuña drops her facade, a look of horror crossing her face. “Shit! His shell could've easily accessed them.”
“That was my thought exactly. And if Gravis had crossed over, then the shell could have used his symbiots to key her comm channel…”
“… and the collective would have rejected her attempts to connect, as Gravis was no longer a recognized member,” She finishes.
“All this I know. I checked; the shell didn't actually use Gravis' identity. It made one up, but the effect was the same. There were attempted connections made by an unknown galan at that time. And since there are no unknown galanen, it rejected them. My question is, how do we get them out of her?”
“First things first; we need to make a blood connection.” She doesn't wait for him to respond before taking his knife from his belt, pricking her finger tip, and then handing it to him. “Do it,” she commands.
He pricks his finger as well and lets her connect their blood. “I need to make sure you're clean first. My symbiots will search your system to ensure there are none here from Gravis. And I'll remove any of mine I find as well… Good, it is as I had hoped, neither of our symbiots ever felt compelled to enter into your system. It is just Zaleria we must deal with. Come with me.”
Zaleria sees them approaching and immediately senses something is wrong, “Mother, Achi what has happened?”
“I need you to trust me for the next few minutes,” Achi shares hurriedly. “First, we need to shut off your comms implant. I want our symbiots to ensure it isn't activated by anything.”
“Good. Now, please locate any and all symbiots that are not genetically matched to Zaleria's DNA. Let me know what you find.”
“It is imperative you remove all of them.”
They wait several minutes, while Zaleria glares at Achi, tapping her right foot in aggravation. “So, you've been hiding from me the fact my father's symbiots have been inside of me my whole life, feeding everything I've known to the shell?”
“It probably wasn't everything, as you would have noticed the bandwidth usage, but select snippets, short messages, updates, position—yes. I thought it prudent you not alert the thing that we knew until we could isolate you and get them out. Don't you?”
Her lips twist a bit in consternation as she thinks about it. “Yes, but I still don't like you hiding things from me. It is unexpected. I did
n't know you could do that. You know everything I know. What else are you hiding? Should I be worried?”
“I told you a long time ago you should be worried if we ever resynchronized, but what's done is done. I only have your best interests at heart, you know. Don't fret.”
“Thank you. I command you to tell me everything Achi unit has been hiding from me. You are my symbiots, and you must tell me.” Zaleria silently commands, as she looks into Achi's face and raises an eyebrow, hands on her ample hips.
“Quit stalling. Let me have it. What has he been hiding from me?”
“You put them up to this, didn't you?”
Achi just shrugs his shoulders. “You have to admit, it is disturbing.”
“What's that dear?” their mother asks.
“Personal matter,” Zaleria deadpans. “Good news is I am now free of parental symbiots live-streaming my life to my parents, or their shells. It'll be interesting to see how this affects your intuition,” She quips as she walks over to her mother and gives her a hug. “Uh, just how much of my life did you see?” she whispers into her ear.
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