by Tim Morrison
Chapter 5.3
Just A Memory - Desinlo Capitol -17 BA
Days later, Gya stood on a small hill overlooking the remains of her home city. Some of the projectiles had impacted here, leaving hundred met wide craters and glowing columns of radioactive ember that still lit up the sky even in the full brightness of daylight. She took another drink of a flask that held anti-radiation and anti-nausea medication and walked back to the shuttle that had landed nearby.
"It's all gone, isn't it?" She said as she stepped on board. Lyo sat there, bandaged up from the injuries he'd received when the battlecruiser had been struck by the wave of projectiles before they had struck the world below and torn apart the crust of the planet.
"The Sinlo River was vaporized by an impact, two more struck close to the Delta eddy, the entire region is a radioactive wasteland now. Most of what we know is destroyed. Gya, there's nothing left here for us now." Lyo said as she sat beside him.
She looked at him, then reached over and ran a hand across his bandaged face. "Do you want to go back to the ship, Lyo? Father says he'll put us on Tara, or back on Clanworld Camelin, or pretty much anywhere we want to go."
"Gya, my dream since I was six cycles old has always been to be with you. You know this, your Mother knew this, and the Commander knows this. Wherever you go, I will be there. You want to join the Military and become an Officer, so we go back to the ship. That is our home now. This ... is just a memory."
Gya nodded, and took another drink of the medicinal flask. Lyo thumped on the side of the shuttle so that the pilot poked his head around the companionway.
"We're ready, Sergeant. Bring us back home." Lyo said as the door closed on the shuttle.
Fifteen minutes later, the pilot cycled down the engines and secured the shuttle as Gya unbuckled herself, then helped Lyo to unbuckle also. The facial injury he had received was still healing, so his right eye was covered and he had very little balance control in the ship's gravity field.
Gya walked with Lyo, his hand resting on her arm so that he didn't run into anything as she guided him back to the medical centre. The facility was still full of wounded crew from when the relativistic projectiles had torn through the hull like so much sea foam. Gya swapped the empty flask for another full one, and waited impatiently as one of the medical techs ran a quick set of tests on her.
“You know that if I let you leave without getting you checked, Cadet. I'll be doing engine duty, during a blow over.” The tech said with a slight grin.
Gya nodded and smiled back to know that she wasn't upset or angry. She looked at Lyo as he sat on a chair, still waiting. He always waited. He had told her he would never leave her, and this had proven it, again.
“Cadet, you have managed to absorb almost a full Grey during your time down there. What were you doing, dancing on a crater?” The tech said with a shake of her head.
She pulled the flask out of Gya's hand with a tsk and replaced it with a different one, then added a vial of dark fluid which quickly dissolved in the clear liquid. “Drink all of that within fifteen minutes, Cadet. Can I trust you do do this, or you drink it right here, right now?”
Gya looked at Lyo, then opened the flask and began to drink. She grimaced at the taste, it tasted metallic and chalky, but she persevered, and finished the entire dose.
“Good girl.” The tech said, and took the flask from her. “You are both ordered to your quarters. No duties for a full two turns. Cadet Gya, expect nausea, the nanos will repair your cell damage, but they play merry Helva with your balance, so you can expect to get sick very quickly. I'd keep you both here, but we have far too many displaced crew until the hull is fully patched up as it is. Get out of here and call medical if you need any assistance. We'll send somebody fast as we can.”
They made it to their quarters and Gya managed to get Lyo sitting on his bed before her stomach flipped on her, she barely made it to the refresher before she emptied her lunch and part of breakfast as well. She wiped her face and hands, then came back into the room shakily, Lyo had gotten himself into a comfortable position on his bed, the bandages covering his face and upper chest wrapped tightly, a strong contrast to his bronze skin.
“A fine team we are.” She said shakily. “I'm puking, you're torn apart.”
Lyo smiled, and laughed, then winced as his broken ribs shifted.
“Come to bed, my Gya. We'll rest together and heal up nicely.” He held out an arm and Gya pulled off her jacket so that she could crawl onto his bed and carefully cuddle up to his side.
