“Still searching for your alleged point,” she said.
“I think what my brother means,” said Lilia, still the slightest bit uneasy operating the Cerberus and her lips at the same time, “Is that we…experienced the Outerworlds differently. From opposite sides of a very high wall. WCC barracks for you. The Chrysum mines of Saturn for us.” The pause that followed dragged on long enough that Demi put his ear to the wall. He expected to hear Sophia, perhaps struggling to breathe through the grip of Kalus’ fingers. Instead, there was silence.
“More like the top of the wall, for you,” Kalus mumbled.
“You just can’t help yourself, can you?” Lilia murmured at the same time Sophia barked:
“Maybe if you weren’t under a gutter grate, it wouldn’t seem like everyone is so high up!”
“There it is,” Demi mumbled through a smile. He lingered by the door a moment longer, to make sure the conversation didn’t turn fatal. Kalus and Sophia made it another five minutes of bickering - no stab wounds. It was then that their Captain let out a long sigh of relief and plopped back at his desk.
He’d done enough meddling to unite the two; at least for them to stand one another. If it could be sorted out, Demi figured it had to happen on its own.
Two days later, the Dogs of War gathered a foot back from the Cerberus’ viewing screen. Some of the supporting crew pattered away on route backup data keyboards behind them. A shining blue orb grew in the darkness. It grew taller, wider, in all directions until it filled every inch of the Cerberus’ glass screen. It was enough to dull sharp tongues. It was enough to loosen tight muscles. Even Kalus and Sophia were powerless at the sight of it. They understood instantly why no one called Earth the blue marble anymore.
There was no land anywhere they could see. There was only ice, slush and water. The three were distinguishable from one another only as different shades of blue. Aqua, cyan and royal swirled around one another over the surface of the planet. A ring of steel connected to a network of silver piers made up the whole of humanity’s trace there. Tiny shards of light blinked into view as Lilia glided the Cerberus closer. She turned its nose to point at the acclimation station on the fringe of the ice giant’s atmosphere.
“Now remember, bring it in slower than you think you have to,” Demi said to Lilia. She grasped the navigation bars tight enough to chase the blood from her fingers. A single bead rolled down beside her wide eyes. “And give it some lift. The artificial gravity’s going to… There it is. You’ve got it.”
“Hookay…” Lilia hummed. She pinched her lip in a rigid jaw up until the Cerberus floated into the Chrysum-lined dock deep in the station.
“Hey, Lil.” Kalus’ whisper, an inch from her ear, made his sister jump. He snorted before he said, “Why don’t you pry those claws off? I think we’re docked.” Lilia turned her petrified eyes to Demi for confirmation.
“You…can release the claws,” he smirked.
“Not you too,” Lilia sighed. Every dimple of the navigation bars was imprinted in her palms when she finally unclamped her fingers.
“Five days in the hold is just long enough to start the crazies,” Demi told her. After a good long stretch, he led the Dogs in a procession to the bottom hatch under the Cerberus. He stopped only for a moment, by the uniforms hung against the wall. “We’ve been in civvies long enough. Time to suit up, Dogs. We’re officially on assignment.” The hull popped open to let the finely-tailored crew out inside a humongous hangar.
The entrance hatch they’d come through was a few hundred yards away now. Most of it was filled with the vast blueness of Neptune. Between the Dogs and there were a hundred more bodies and six more ships. There were even a few WCC ships, though none of them quite measured up to the Cerberus. Of all the uniformed officers and researchers, none held a candle to the sleek suits of the Dogs of War. The gold trim of their long-tailed coats glared lights from above with each turn. The navy color of their official fatigues rivaled the depth of even the ice giant so far beneath the station. According to what Kalus had read, the fibers were shock, stab and flame resistant, too. Though each of them carried themselves so starkly different, from borderline slouching to an uptight shuffle to a confident swagger, they were united in their sharp dress. Each of them bore a golden pin on their chest, an effigy of the three-headed hellhound their ship was named for. It was a glaring warning for anyone who dared stand against the guardians of the underworld. The Dogs of War.
Or so their Captain hoped. If they could keep it together until they got to the planetary elevator, no one would know the feuding scrappers and teacher’s pets amongst them. Only the warriors, come to undo the scourge of Dragons from the Milky Way.
“Aren’t you four a picture of professionalism?” laughed a man in a standard black-collared WCC suit. Over it, he wore a long fur coat equipped for the chill of the icescape below. Through it all poked the ridge of a fearsome beer gut. Demi tensed up the second Kalus opened his mouth.
“Aren’t you about forty pounds over the fence to be ground level enforcement?” he asked, finger prodding at the shield on the man’s uniform.
“Kalus,” Demi snipped. The very next second, the man in the long coat released a deep bellow of laughter only a man with his figure could manage.
“Worry not, Captain. I am so damn tired of working with the stiffs around here! Your friend, Kalus was it?” the man asked. The Arms Master nodded. “Kalus is going to keep us entertained on our long, cold walk. I can tell. Name’s Wagner. I’m your guide.”
“You already know our Arms Master,” Demi smiled in relief, a hand out to shake. “I’m Captain Demitri Alexander. Demi is fine.”
“A-a-Commander Lilia Delphi,” Lilia introduced herself next.
“Sophia Brass.”
“Brass? Really? All the way out in this frozen hell?” Wagner laughed. Before she had a chance to answer, he waved the Dogs on, “Hell, what’re we doing standing around here all comfortable when we could be freezing our asshairs off? Let’s get you folks down to the surface. Someone’s been dying to meet you.”
Chapter Six: Field Test
How many days has it been? Damnit, Dawn, think! But no amount of scolding, from herself or others, had brought it back. Thumping her head against the wall hadn’t brought it back. Pummeling her pillow, wrapping her sheets as tight as they would coil, and slamming the toilet seat shut had proved equally ineffective. Dawn was left, then, to draw the conclusion that a calmer, meditative approach might help. To that end, she sat up straight on her cot. She crossed her legs and sucked down the full capacity of her lungs before letting them drain slowly.
When did they inject me with that…blackness? Dawn tried, calmer. She gave herself a few seconds, a few breaths. In her generosity, Dawn even gave herself one more chance. It’s alright. Don’t get worked up. You can do it. How many sunrises were there? You watch the sun rise every morning. How…many… Try as she might, Dawn couldn’t pinpoint a number. Each time the sun crested the forest on the other side of the lake, it was the same. It took the same amount of time. It bled the same fantastic colors across the red clay of her cell. There was no telling them apart, therefore no counting them.
r /> Alright… Dawn surrendered at last. Scratch the injection. I’ll pay more attention next time. What else do you remember? She let her heavy eyelids drape down. In the blackness, the rare peace she allowed herself on rare occasion, Dawn reviewed every memory she could think of. No matter how hazy.
There was the woman. The one who had called Dawn “teacher”. She still couldn’t remember the woman’s name, but the rosy light that came to mind when she tried made her chest flutter and sink at once. Could it be - did I love her? I love women… it sounded right in her head. But then, Dawn couldn’t remember a time when she’d been with one. Or with a man. That spiral only led to frustration, so she tried a different memory.