Chapter 2: The Wayward Wind

Seally is uncertain about debt. I mean, her family is no stranger to encouraging debt and using the leverage, but in some ways these Feskals seem like children. Let loose in their society, maybe they would be, experience wise. Yet, they're clearly capable soldiers.

"We have some spare bunks you can take your pick of, and then we'll discuss any arrangement. We weren't looking for employees when we came to this system, but whatever terms we come up with, you will have your choice in the matter."

She looks to the other three and makes sure they agree with her. They had no need of indentured servants or slaves.

Alerio was also troubled about the odd juxtaposition of the refugees. Innocent, yet deadly.

She thought back to the kindness and curiosity of those people on Walston:

"Maybe they could help out on Walston? There’s the volcano damage to deal with, and the people there seemed to want to share… well, just abou everything."

She remembered how much the museum curator had tried to talk and teach…

Fallon grins. "Alerio, you're a genius! Walston would be a great start! It's lower tech then the Feskals are used to but I think it's a perfect place to start a new life. They could help rebuild and be welcomed into the community." She claps Alerio on the shoulder.

"Fallon, you took the words right out of my mouth," Zuni says, sending a wink her way. "Seriously though it is a genius idea, Alerio. A win-win situation for everyone."

To the Feskai he nods and says, "Yes, as Seally has said, please take your pick of the spare bunks. We want you to feel at home here."

The Feskal find the idea of helping a people in need to be agreeable. They begin settling in. When they get to deck two, Zuzu is waiting to greet them.

"A genius?" Alerio says with faux-shock. "Well… don’t let them know that, or they’ll be asking to read my brain next!"

Zuni snorts a laugh. "It can be our secret, Alerio."

Feeling a sense of well-being he wonders out loud. "You know, it feels good to help others, doesn't it? I think it beats chasing other things. We might not get rich doing it or maybe we become richer within ourselves. Oh, listen to me," Zuni says, waving a dismissive hand. "Getting all sappy. I don't recognize myself."

After the Feskal are settled, the Barnai Florians prepare Seally and Fallon for the procedure. Both are awake during the procedure, requiring only an initial local anaesthetic - once the jack is installed, it can cut off the pain receptors in the local area while the surgery site heals.

The jack is installed at the base of the skull, leaving only a discrete black (of course) port that is easy to hid under your hair or a high collar. In a few moments, it connects with your nervous system and begins to interact with you. A pleasant voice speaks to you from within your mind, guiding you through a ten-minute calibration program. Words and images appear in your field of vision, even when you close your eyes, and the program asks you to practice interacting with the interface until it reaches 100% synchronization.

During this time, a dozen Barnai - perhaps all of them? - congregate around you in their floating chairs, congratulating you on the swiftness of adapting to the jack. Feskal lurk in the background. The Barnai eagerly invite you to plug into the memory simulator with them.

Once you plug in, the room vanishes, and you sense the presence of each other and the Barnai in your mind. You hear Monrayleux instruct the two of you to focus on the experience with the Alo'hei.

---

Then, suddenly you are on the bridge of the Wayward Wind, but the twelve Barnai are there as well. Everything is 100% life-like, just as you remember it. The Alo'hei tentacle is surrounding the ship, and then The Word is spoken. You are filled with the same profoundness as before, as if experiencing it all over again.

Once it ends, the Barnai beside themselves with emotion. Tears streak down their faces. They have heard The Word, at last.

Then, suddenly you are on the bridge of the Wayward Wind, but the twelve Barnai are there as well. Everything is 100% life-like, just as you remember it. The Alo'hei tentacle is surrounding the ship, and then The Word is spoken. You are filled with the same profoundness as before, as if experiencing it all over again.

Once it ends, the Barnai beside themselves with emotion. Tears streak down their faces. They have heard The Word, again.

Then, suddenly you are on the bridge of the Wayward Wind, but the twelve Barnai are there as well. Everything is 100% life-like, just as you remember it. The Alo'hei tentacle is surrounding the ship, and then The Word is spoken. You are filled with the same profoundness as before, as if experiencing it all over again.

Once it ends, the Barnai beside themselves with emotion. Tears streak down their faces. They have heard The Word, more brightly than ever.

...

This happens again and again, until you lose track of how many times it has occurred. Every time you hear the word, it makes a little more sense than the last. Each time, you feel on the verge of some awakening in your mind.

Every iteration, Fallon can feel awareness creeping closer and closer. Each time she hears The Word, it becomes a little clearer, a few more tones, a few more nuances, click into place. She wants to know. The deep drive to discover, uncover, that has led to her becoming an investigative journalist, propels her forward toward understanding. She must know The Word.

Seally is inquisitive, more so than she let's on. It's her family background, in part, knowing that information and more so, secrets, are the path to achieving control and deflecting the machinations of your opponents.

The maddening secret before her, The Word, demands investigation. What is it that the Alo'hei tried to impart? What secret from between the stars was gifted to them?

She aches for the answer.

Alerio cocks an eyebrow towards Zuni.

Are you seeing this shit?…

All she can do is watch on and wait… while whatever the other two were doing unfolded before her!

It's all pretty surreal. Numerous floating Florians surround the two jacked-in women. Pinpricks of anxiety dot the back of Zuni's neck as he looks on with a mix of emotions. Alerio's glance at him tells him she feels the same.

Seally and Fallon strive for understanding within an infinite recursion shared between the fourteen minds.

The meaning of The Word fades further and further from your mind, but it seems in contemplating it, The Word acts like a key to unlock latent potential that has always been inside you.

And when you have almost forgotten The Word, is suddenly makes sense, as if remembering some profound lesson from your childhood:

Emerge from your chrysalis, Children of the Stars.

---

Fallon and Seally awake in a cool desert, lying face down. There is an eerie timelessness - is this the past? The future? The present? As you disturb the sands to rise, the grains sparkle in a rainbow of light.


You hear voices close by, angry and violent. You look up and see a tall man with a shaved head and a sneer. He wears a long coat and has a pistol drawn, pointing it at the head of a man who kneels before him. You have no doubt this is the infamous pirate captain Salvor Dreks. The kneeling man looks up; although his face is badly bruised, you recognize this man as Alan Greener. Dreks charges the pistol and speaks in a dire voice. "For the last time: tell me: where is my ship?"

---

End of Chapter 2