by Z. M. Wilmot
***
After we returned, we ate a small dinner, and then all went to sleep. Mikhail volunteered to take the first watch. Everyone else fell asleep in a few minutes, but I couldn’t – I was too uneasy. I gave up after a while, and sat up. Mikhail turned to look at me. He was standing, facing the entrance. I stood up and walked over to him.
“Can’t sleep, eh?”
I nodded. Psy’s attacks on me were still weighing heavily on my mind, and I knew that I was more vulnerable in my sleep. The green-cloaked man had said that Psy would not return, but I was still too upset with him to really trust him.
Mikhail and I stood in silence for about half an hour. Finally, I summoned up the courage to ask him about his people. I was curious. “Mikhail?”
He turned to me. “Yes?”
“Why did the Terran Home Rule erase the records of your people?”
He smiled sadly. “Who knows but the Home Rule themselves? Perhaps they wanted to erase the cruelties that they inflicted on us, or consolidate their own power by eliminating any evidence that they were ever on the verge of defeat.” He shrugged. “We don’t question it, we just live with it. In the past lies stagnation – the only way to live is forward.”
We passed a few more minutes in silence, then something occurred to me. The Tyrrhish Nomads had expanded beyond the Sol System before the Home Rule had – perhaps they had encountered some sentient alien species, like the ones that Psy had alluded to!
I asked him. “Did your people ever encounter any aliens? Not like the animals that we found, but intelligent ones?”
Mikhail regarded me with solemn eyes. He didn’t respond for a moment. “No. We found only what you found; nothing more.” His eyes dared me to challenge him. Slightly frightened, I lowered my head. I hadn’t meant to anger him.
He put his hand around my shoulder. “You seem interested in my people. Do you want to know more about us? I’d be happy to tell you.” I raised my head and saw him smile, his challenge gone. “Not many people ask me about the Tyrrh.”
“I would, if you’re willing to.”
He removed his arm. “I already said I was. Let’s see, where should I start?” I spent the rest of his watch listening to him talk about the stories, myths, and traditions of the Tyrrhish Nomads. By the time Mikhail’s shift was over, and he had woken Michaela for her shift, I was exhausted. I fell asleep almost immediately.
